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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26849383">What About Me?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MJ5185/pseuds/MJ5185'>MJ5185</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Black Jackals, Car Sex, Cunnilingus, F/M, Fellatio, I suck at tags, I'll add more as I remember - Freeform, I'm a full grown adult blushing at making these tags, M/M, Mafia AU, Night Terrors, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Post-time skip characters, Shower Sex, Smut, That's somewhat embarrassing, Vaginal Sex, Violence, there will be blood - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:36:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>40,330</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26849383</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MJ5185/pseuds/MJ5185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm bad at summaries, but it's basically a mafia AU of Haikyuu where the OC, Natsu, (No, not Hinata Natsu) is in a bad spot with her family (no damsels in distress I swear) and Sakusa is volun'told' to help her. Feelings? Maybe. Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing, but I put over a month's work into this and just decided 'Fuck it' so here we are.</p><p>Don't come for me about the plot holes, I'm sleep deprived. Also, no beta reader so, there will be mistakes. I'll try to fix.</p><p>Smut's in chapter 2 if you don't care for the story. No judgment here, just thought you'd like to know before you're disappointed.</p><p>Hope y'all enjoy!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Sakusa Kiyoomi/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Awkward Meetings and Drunken Antics</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ok, this is my first time writing fanfiction for anyone but myself so…I'm super nervous. A few notes about this story:</p><p>I have no idea where I'm going with this, so bear with me on this journey.</p><p>This original character's name is Natsu, but no, it's not Hinata's little sister. I just really like the name (it means summer)</p><p>I say original character, but she is very much a real person in the Haikyuu universe, we just never saw her or heard her name…so I gave her one.</p><p>This is a mafia AU with the members of the Black Jackals, Aoba Johsai is in there, mentions of Shiratorizawa and Karasuno.</p><p>I feel like it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyways. All characters are in their twenties (we don't simp for children in this house, only men allowed…or women if that's your thing, God knows I'm not one to judge)</p><p>I'm just trying to have fun with this. I've already strung together well over 60,000 (holy shit 68,768) words as of today. This is the first time I noticed that haha. Anyway, there's way more where this came from and even if just one person likes it, I'll keep uploading at least once a week. So far, I've got the chapters divided every 8500 words, give or take, so we'll see how this goes.</p><p>If anyone's curious, yes there will be smut, none for this chapter, unfortunately but there most definitely will be. Lord forgive me for I have sinned haha.</p><p>As for pairings, besides the main one, there is a smidge of IawOi (my ride or die ship, personally) and a very very very light dusting of BokuAka (more of a mention, really)</p><p>Ok, enough about me, please enjoy this ungodly thing I'm too ashamed to even have anyone beta read. Sit back, buckle up, and let's all try to figure out what the fuck I'm doing together. Wahoo!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn't the blood soaking into the dark fabric of her sweater that made Natsu crinkle her nose in distaste. No, it was the incessant bawling from the fully grown man crumpled into the fetal position in the corner of the room that had her physically tasting bile in the back of her mouth.</p><p>"Ugh, shut up!" She shouted, making the man flinch and quiet down, if only for the moment. Natsu continued riffling through the papers piled on the desk. The instructions had said that there would be a manila envelope with a picture of a dragon inside a rose on the front but she couldn't find it anywhere. She slammed her hands on the desk before turning to the man, "Where's the envelope?"</p><p>The man clutched his leg where she had cut him earlier when he tried to escape. He threw his other hand over his head as if expecting another blow, "No please, I swear. I don't know anything about an envelope, please don’t hurt me," he whimpered.</p><p>Natsu rolled her eyes at the pathetic display, crossing the room and crouching in front of the bleeding man. She made a show of taking out one of her knives and placing the flat edge against his calf, she hummed, "I'm not the biggest fan of torture but I'm also kind of in a rush, so I guess I can make an exception this one time," she smiled when his eyes widened and dilated with fear. She brushed the knife against his leg, pulling his attention down to her hands, "All I need is the envelope with that design on it and I swear I'll be on my way."</p><p>She watched as his eyes flickered over her face before being consumed by the nonstop motion of the sharpened steel against his pants leg. His tongue darted out to lick his chapped lips and he croaked out, "You'll leave? You promise?"</p><p>Natsu smiled her best smile and nodded, not telling him that she would actually be the only one to leave this room. Alive, anyways. He looked relieved and shakily pointed under the dresser right next to them. Keeping her knife pointed in his direction, she shifted to run her arm through the space between the floor and the bottom of the dresser, clutching the object she came in contact with and pulled it out.</p><p>It was a briefcase and she glanced at the man who confirmed the combination to the lock. She popped open the lid and grabbed the envelope that was in it with the design, just as she was promised. She smiled coldly at the trembling man in front of her and whispered, "Thank you," before slamming the knife into his neck and twisting. Granting him a quick death was the least she could do.</p><p>Ignoring the surprise and subsequent relaxing of the facial features on the face in front of her was unnervingly easy. The emptying of life from the eyes was always the hardest so Natsu avoided the man's gaze as she stood up, wiping the blood off her knife with the man's pants leg. Surveying the room she grimaced, it wasn't as clean as she would have liked it, but life had a funny way of fucking with her. Picking her way through the mess, she reached the door and pulled it open, not expecting the tall person on the other side, gloved hand outstretched as if to twist the knob just moments ago.</p><p>A moment of surprise passed between the two before Natsu quickly slammed the door shut and bolted it. She frantically threw a randomly dropped body in front of the door as an obstacle. Cursing, she ran back through the room, trying to ignore the slams coming from out in the hallway and the shouting leaking its way through. Scrambling over the carnage in the room, she clutched the bottom of the window, desperately trying to get it open and slip through. She barely managed to crack it open enough for her to wriggle her upper body out when she heard a crash behind her. Sparing a glance back, she saw a mop of curly black hair above a set of pitch black eyes with a gun pointed directly at her.</p><p>Praying to all the Gods she knew and some she didn't, Natsu shut her eyes and gave herself that last push she needed to get through the window. Tumbling out the window, she reached out for the metal pipe beside her to slow her descent, landing less then gracefully in a dirty alley. Not wasting time to check for injuries, she dashed off and slid into the waiting car just around the corner, yelling at the driver to "Go, go, go!"</p><p>Again, she spared a glance behind her and was relieved to note that she didn't see the mop of black hair anywhere in sight. Breathing a sigh of relief, she clutched the envelope miraculously still in her hand and tried not to think about how close she came to being caught, yet again, by the goddamn Black Jackals.</p><p>*****</p><p>Sakusa was pissed. He had the shot and hesitated, he fucking hesitated. He slamming a gloved fist into the wall as he stormed out, refusing to talk to Atsumu on the way to the street to continue the search. That, however, did not stop the bottle blonde from talking to him in the most annoying way possible.</p><p>"What happened Omi-kun? Forget how to pull a trigger or somethin? Did ya get cold feet?" Atsumu chuckled as he kept pace with his partner. It was too much fun teasing Sakusa sometimes, partially because the ravenette was so damn particular about everything it made him an easy target. Atsumu sighed as they continued walking, "She's long gone, Omi-kun. You remember last time we had her cornered and she slipped through all the guys we had on the streets? We came here woefully unprepared."</p><p>The only response Atsumu got was the unlocking of the car doors as they rounded the corner in view of their ride. The blonde knew he should leave it alone, but he couldn't help poking the fresh wound just a bit more. "Hey, don't worry, maybe next time she kills an important asset, I'll be the one to find her." He got a look from his partner at that and smiled his trademark smile, "Since sweet ol' Omi-kun's gone soft on us."</p><p>Sakusa's gloves tightened around his knuckles as he clenched the steering wheel and jerked the car into traffic. Atsumu chuckled and remained silent as he leaned back in his seat, sure that piling on more insult to injury was a good way to either get in a wreck or get stabbed. Neither option appealed to him at the moment so he tilted his head to look out the window, watching as Tokyo passed them by, busy as ever and none of them any the wiser.</p><p>******</p><p>"You missed her?!" As usual, Bokuto's voice was far too loud no matter where they were and caused Sakusa to massage his temples, staving off the headache he felt coming.</p><p>It was later in the day, after they had given their boss, Meian, a run down of what happened. They had run into Bokuto and Hinata in the lobby and the duo managed to talk Sakusa and Atsumu into joining them for a drink. Sakusa was already planning on getting drunk enough to make himself forget this shit show of a day so Bokuto and Hinata really didn't have to coax him that hard, much to their surprise.</p><p>Sakusa slammed another shot of whatever expensive whiskey Hinata had suggested and ordered another before catching the ginger's eyes, "What?" He challenged.</p><p>Hinata glanced at the other two, "You might want to take it easy on those, Sakusa-san."</p><p>Atsumu laughed and ruffled Hinata's orange hair playfully, "I'm sure Omi-kun is actually trying to get pretty wasted tonight. Am I right?" He looked slyly back up at Sakusa, who tipped back another shot before speaking through clenched teeth.</p><p>"Miya, do you ever shut up?"</p><p>The blonde in question smiled wider as he put Hinata in a headlock to lead them all towards a table in the back, "I'll shut up when I'm dead," he laughingly declared to the bar.</p><p>"I can't wait," Sakusa muttered to himself as he followed. The drinks must have been working because he didn't feel half as annoyed as he normally did at his partner's antics. Even the ever present anxiety of being in a crowded room was dulled.</p><p>He slid into the booth after Hinata and started wiping his corner of the table down with a napkin. Feeling the drinks start to kick in, he started to lose focus on the table for the time being and began listening to Bokuto and Atsumu as they talked about some job or other. Normally, Sakusa hated being drunk. It was the feeling of not being in control of the most basic of bodily functions that grated on his nerves. However, it had been months of tracking this particular assassin and those nerves were well and truly fried.</p><p>His brain began feeling hazy and he vaguely wondered if he should've taken Hinata's advice and slowed down on the drinks. Then he remembered why he was drinking to begin with and found himself with yet another shot glass in hand.</p><p>Time slipped away from Sakusa as the night dragged on. He thought he remembered Hinata and Atsumu laughing at something he had said, but he couldn't think of what it was. Now, he was pretty sure he was in the bathroom of the bar so he stumbled out the door, trying to find the table they were all sitting at. Sakusa felt like he walked for miles inside the small bar and was still unable to find the people he had come in with. Blinking blearily at his phone, he checked the time and shrugged when he saw it was almost one in the morning. It was time to call it a night anyways.</p><p>So he stepped out of the bar and made it two whole steps in the cold night air before slamming his shoulder into the hard brick wall, thankful for the support. Next, his legs gave out and sent him to his knees as he clutched at the wall to keep the world from spinning. He didn't know how long he sat like that, legs sprawled on the sidewalk and back against the wall like a drunkard, but eventually, he felt hands shaking his shoulder and a far off voice calling to him. The next thing Sakusa knew was darkness.</p><p>******</p><p>Natsu was fucked. Beyond fucked. She couldn't even fathom what her employers would do to her if they knew she had taken a blacked out Jackal into her care.</p><p>"Fuck," she spat to herself as she paced the small hotel room she had gotten for the night. It wasn't like she had planned this, no one plans this. Whatever God or Gods were out there had decided they needed a little laugh tonight and stuck her right in the path of the one Jackal who had almost managed to kill her on multiple occasions.</p><p>What the hell else was she supposed to do when she saw him looking so pathetically tanked outside that bar? Those wide, dark eyes bleary with alcohol as they stared at her looked almost sad, lost. She couldn't leave him out in the cold, but there was no way she was about to go hunting for more Jackals just to satisfy her good Samaritan feelings. So, she managed to get them both in the back of a cab and into this room.</p><p>"Fuck," she cursed again, this time with more feeling. Natsu checked the hancuffs attaching him to the headboard for the hundredth time.</p><p>Kicking her duffel bag out of the way, she thought about how she had just wanted to take her stuff back home, where she could have a nice, proper shower and sleep in her own bed for the first time in weeks. But no, not tonight, it would seem.</p><p>She paced around the room again before running her hands through her shoulder length dark brown hair, pulling it out of the french braid she would put it in for jobs. With another check on the handcuffs, finally confirming the guy wasn't going anywhere, she decided to take a shower and wash away all the shit from the day. One last check and she was grabbing her things to throw in the bathroom.</p><p>******</p><p>Sakusa woke to the most intense hangover he had ever felt in his life. His mouth was disgustingly dry and he had fallen asleep with one hand uncomfortably stretched out above his head. He moved his hands to cup his head when he noticed one was caught on something. Cracking one eye, he could barely make out the glint of a metal bracelet encircling his wrist. A bracelet that looked an awful lot like hancuffs.</p><p>Hangover momentarily put on hold, he tried to take in the rest of the room, but it was too dark to make anything out. How long had he been out? A whole day? Just a few hours? His free hand slowly moved to search himself for his phone, moving his hand over the fabric of his clothes he steadily realized he was also missing all of his normal weapons.</p><p>There was a small stirring beside him and Sakusa almost fell out of the bed in shock. Catching himself and breathing through a wave of nausea, he looked over to see a figure under the blankets with him. He bit the inside of his cheek, silently cursing himself for letting his guard down so much. Carefully watching the small rise and fall of the individual's breathing next to him, he was confident they were asleep. Fighting through the immense headache, he moved to quickly slip his free hand under them and around their throat, pulling them towards him and pinning their back against his chest.</p><p>The person came awake rather suddenly, hands going immediately to his grip on their neck. He thought he heard a small voice croak out, "Wait, bad idea," but only tightened his hold on their neck.</p><p>Sakusa's grip didn't let up as he growled in their ear, "Who are you?" He swore he felt the person laugh against his chest, but there was a real possibility he was still drunk. He shook their neck, still in his hand and repeated his question.</p><p>Next thing Sakusa knew, he was being hit with the worst wave of nausea yet, but this time it was caused by an external force, if the hand crushing his dick and balls was any indication. Releasing his hold on the person's neck, Sakusa doubled over and crushed his hand to his mouth in an attempt to not throw up. He would be damned if he puked while he was handcuffed to some bed in some fleabag hotel. Not while there was still the smallest scrap of dignity left in him.</p><p>Through sheer willpower, Sakusa managed to breathe his way through the nausea and hiss, "That was a dirty fucking move," into the dark room in the direction of the wheezing and coughing.</p><p>The hacking stopped and a raw voice answered, "If you had given me time to explain, it wouldn't have come to that." A lamp clicked and bathed the room in a soft light.</p><p>Even though it was a low light, Sakusa still squinted as it assaulted his overly sensitive eyes, looking up to finally get a glimpse of his kidnapper. His black eyes widen as his slow brain processed the familiar face. He would know that face anywhere, it even haunted his dreams, taunting him just out of reach.</p><p>He rattled the handcuffs, furious, "What the fuck?"</p><p>The jade green eyes across the bed from him watched calmly, delicate hands still massaging her neck where he had grabbed it.</p><p>"I was trying to tell you, the key for your cuffs are on the other side of the room and if you killed me, you'd starve in here before anyone ever found you."</p><p>Sakusa scoffed, "I don't think so, you clearly don't know who you're dealing with."</p><p>She smiled down at him, "I've heard of some kind of escape artist in the Black Jackals and I've taken precautions, as you can tell, just in case that was you."</p><p>She jerked her chin to his bound hands and Sakusa looked over to see that she was right. He hadn't paid much attention to it because the cuffs weren't hurting him, but now he could see why. The bottom half of his hand, up to the base of his thumb and a good portion of his wrist was wrapped in what looked like a layer of K-tape, then another layer of electrical tape to prevent him from sliding out of the cuffs like he normally would. He gave the bindings an experimental tug and winced as the tape pulled on his skin. Pressing his lips together, he refused to look back at the assassin until she began talking again.</p><p>"So, that is you they're talking about, right? The 'Dark Houdini'," she chuckled, "I'm really glad I remembered to use that tape then," she stood at the foot of the bed, running a hand through her chocolate hair, "Can you tell me how you do it? You dislocate your thumbs right? Does it hurt or are you double jointed?" Genuine curiosity lit her eyes.</p><p>Sakusa ignored her questions and sat up, placing his back against the headboard, "What do you want?"</p><p>Her green eyes lost the curiosity but were instead full of a familiar sense of playfulness. She gently perched on the foot of the bed, carefully staying just out of his reach, "What does anyone want out of life?"</p><p>Sakusa groaned, why did smartasses flock to him like this?</p><p>"From me. What do you want from me?"</p><p>She smiled and laughed to herself, "Originally, I didn't want anything to do with any of you, but after you woke me up so rudely, I think I'm owed something."</p><p>"I'm not apologizing, if that's what you're after."</p><p>Now, it was her turn to scoff, "What the fuck would I do with and apology? No, you keep that shit to yourself. Now let me think."</p><p>Sakusa watched as she made a show of placing her finger to her chin and tilting her head from side to side. He took the time to get more comfortable and bent a knee to perch his arm on so he could hold up his aching head. The nausea was almost constant now and was accompanied by cold sweats, he noted as he suppressed a shiver and tried to casually wipe the perspiration from his face. The sharp eyes across from him seemed to track the movement and without another word, she got up to rummage around the room before returning with the empty ice bucket.</p><p>She shoved it in his lap, "Throw up in there, it'll make you feel better," she disappeared again, but Sakusa was too busy throwing away the last vestiges of his pride as he heaved into the bucket.</p><p>After what felt like hours of puking, when in reality it was probably less than thirty seconds, he felt a cool sensation at the back of his neck. He accidentally let out a groan as the feeling settled between his shoulders.</p><p>A voice, much softer than he thought the ruthless assassin capable of, sounded next to his ear, "Lean back." Too out of it to argue, Sakusa obliged and felt another soothing sensation against his forehead. He cracked an eye open, but neither her or the bucket were anywhere to be found.</p><p>As much as he hated to admit it, she was right, he did feel better after throwing up. It made him feel utterly disgusting, but at least he wasn't fighting with the nausea every second. He must have passed out for a while, because by the time he came to again, he was alone and the room had begun to lighten up from the sunlight outside. Turning his head with great difficulty, he saw a bottle of mouthwash and a cup of water next to him on the nightstand. He was resentfully grateful as he reached out and drained the water before awkwardly twisting the cap off the mouthwash and tipping it back. Spitting out the mouthwash was a detestable task and Sakusa seriously thought about just swallowing it, but talked himself out of it, unsure if he would survive much more alcohol poisoning.</p><p>Now that he was alone, Sakusa slowly inspected himself and noted every one of his weapons, including his lockpick set, was conveniently gone. Even the small knife he kept in his pants was missing. He shuddered to think of how she found that one, but was slightly impressed she had took the time and effort to pat him down so thoroughly. At least she wasn't an idiot, but they knew that already.</p><p>Sakusa was in the middle of debating with himself about whether another swig of mouthwash would make a difference when the assassin came back through the door, the smell of food following her.</p><p>"Here," she threw a small package in his lap, "eat this."</p><p>"Why?" Sakusa peered in the wrapping paper, looking at the bread inside suspiciously.</p><p>She rolled her eyes as she took her own food to the table across the room, "Because, last I checked, humans need food, like, every day to survive."</p><p>Sakusa resisted the urge to snap at her, "No, I mean why are you even bothering?" If it had been him, he probably would have let his captive suffer the effects of their hangover by themselves. What he wouldn't have done is place cold towels on his neck and given him food and water.</p><p>She shrugged, not looking at him, "Seemed like the decent thing to do."</p><p>"We're not decent people."</p><p>"Yeah, you got that right," she chuckled and looked over at him to find him still staring at her, waiting on an answer. She blew out a sigh, "Gods, I don't know dude, I saw you outside that bar last night, completely out of it and I just thought 'No one deserves that' you know? Plus," she hesitated, a flush creeping across her cheeks, "when you looked at me like that, you just looked so sad," her voice quieted at the last part.</p><p>Sakusa was surprised, to say the least, maybe a little embarrassed that she had seen him like that. But he was drunk, he reasoned, everyone does dumb stuff when they're drunk. He tore into the package she had tossed him with his one hand and began eating the small loaf of bread, momentarily distracted by how good it was.</p><p>Wanting another subject other than his abject failure at holding his liquor, he swallowed before speaking, "I didn't know hotels made bread this good."</p><p>"They don't, that's from a bakery a few blocks over."</p><p>"You walked to a bakery just to get me some bread?"</p><p>"Don't flatter yourself, I hate hotel food much more than I hate you," she still had yet to look at him.</p><p>"I don't recall hotel food ever trying to kill you," he smirked.</p><p>She matched his smirk as she finally turned to face him, "It's come closer than any of you have."</p><p>Sakusa ignored her comment and continued eating, the bread was actually really good and it made him feel more and more human with every bite. He felt the itch in the back of his mind growing bigger and uglier the longer he sat there without brushing his teeth or showering. At least he could take comfort in the fact that she hadn't removed his gloves.</p><p>After she finished eating, she cleaned up, leaving no trace of the food or any of the wrappers before sitting back down at the table and drumming her fingers against the wood. Sakusa remained silent, he was fairly certain she didn't want to kill him. You don't waste food on a dead man. Beyond that, though, he had no idea what she wanted. It would be better if he didn't say anything and let her figure it out on her own.</p><p>Her drumming was interrupted by the vibration of a phone that Sakusa realized was his. She turned it and showed him the screen, it was Atsumu's caller ID, showing his dumbass face smiling with his gross tongue out and holding a peace sign. The blonde had taken that picture himself and Sakusa hadn't cared enough to change it.</p><p>"If I don't answer, they'll know something's wrong and come find me," he bluffed.</p><p>The assassin tilted her head from side to side, "No, I don't think they will. You seem like a pretty standoffish guy. I'd be willing to bet they won't think twice if you don't answer."</p><p>Sakusa cursed to himself but kept his face relaxed as he shrugged, "Hey, I'm trying to help you. I don't think you're a bad person, but I can't guarantee your safety if they come looking for me," he was going to ride or die on this bluff.</p><p>She chuckled as the phone screen went black, "That's rich, coming from you. Nice try though. Oh," she held up the phone again and he saw Atsumu had messaged him, but couldn't read what it said. Damn that fake blonde.</p><p>"It says 'Hey Omi-kun, you seemed a little out of it last night so I managed to talk sunshine and Bo into covering for ya. Thank me later with a big ol' hug, partner'," she looked over at Sakusa who was silently seething, "There are a lot of emojis, but I'll leave those out," Sakusa had never hated Atsumu more than he did in that moment and that included the time he had spilled nearly a whole container of fries in his car.</p><p>She set the phone back down as she grinned at him, "So, Omi-kun, huh? Sounds like a nickname. I wonder what your real name is, Omi." Sakusa shot her a warning glare and she laughed, "Oh Gods, you are too cute when you're angry."</p><p>Brown hair shifted over her shoulder as she sat back in her chair, playing with his phone. As she continued thinking, her smile faded and she became more serious. Finally, she asked him, "Do you know who I am?"</p><p>Sakusa blinked in surprise, not the direction he thought this was going, "Some assassin going around killing a good chunk of our assets and taking a mountain of evidence?"</p><p>She leaned forward, green eyes piercing him, "My name. Do you know my name?"</p><p>"Uh," he shifted against the headboard, "no, we don't."</p><p>Her grin came back, "Excellent. Let's keep it that way, what do you say, Omi?" She stood and stretched, clearly getting ready to leave.</p><p>"Wait, no, tell me who you are. What are you trying to do, killing all these people?" This was easily the longest time anyone had spent with this wanted assassin and Sakusa would be damned if he was going to pass up this perfectly good opportunity for some answers that the Jackals desperately needed.</p><p>She tilted her head and looked down at him, "It can't be helped if you don't recognize me. Well, no hard feelings, I hope."</p><p>Sakusa watched in confusion as she walked around the room, gathering her things and throwing them in a duffel bag.</p><p>"Hey, hold on. What do you mean? Are we supposed to know who you are?" He hated that this person seemed to have a bigger piece of the puzzle than he did.</p><p>Sakusa lunged suddenly across the bed, barely managing to snag her wrist and pull her off balance. She fell onto the bed and he awkwardly clambered on top of her, trapping her arms by her sides with his knees. He had a significant height and weight advantage and he planned on using them to the best of his ability.</p><p>"Who are you?" he repeated.</p><p>How she managed to give him such an easy going smile while being held down like that, sent a small chill down Sakusa's spine. Even her voice was steady as she answered him.</p><p>"Who is anybody, really?"</p><p>Sakusa scowled down at her and gripped the hair at the back of her head to make her look at him, "I'm tired of the half assed answers. I want a real answer, now," he leaned down to hiss in her face.</p><p>Her face softened as her green eyes locked with his black ones. She murmured, "You really do look so beautiful when you're angry."</p><p>Before Sakusa could process her words, she leaned up and closed the gap between their faces. Their lips touched, rendering him incapable of further thought as his brain scrambled to put the pieces together. His body didn't need any deep thought to react, fingers loosening their grip on her hair and mouth opening to her searching tongue. The sweet taste of oranges filtered through his senses before his body was being pitched forward and his head nearly slammed into the headboard. Sakusa grasped for her again, but found nothing, twisting around, he heard her laugh as she maneuvered out of his reach.</p><p>"Don't take this personally, I'd just much rather be on top," she winked at him before throwing him his phone. </p><p>She paused as she opened the door, sunlight turning her dark brown hair into a soft fall of melted caramel as she looked back, "I'll see you around, Omi-kun," she chuckled, before disappearing as the door fell closed.</p><p>******</p><p>Sakusa felt that calling Bokuto would be the safest bet, since the giant muscle head somehow found him intimidating and wouldn't tease him as relentlessly as Atsumu would. Sakusa had thought wrong as the whole squad pushed open the door to the room and saw him helplessly handcuffed to the bed.</p><p>He glared at Bokuto, "I thought I explicitly told you to come alone."</p><p>Bokuto ran a hand behind his neck, sheepishly, "I accidentally had you on speakerphone and 'Tsumu overheard part of the conversation. It was either bring him, or he'd just follow me and show up anyways."</p><p>The blonde beside him was too busy howling with laughter to offer any comments, clutching his sides and wiping tears from his eyes, he gasped out, "Talk about a one night stand gone wrong. Oh, fuck, I might be in love with whoever did this to our Omi-kun," he doubled over again as another fit of laughter overtook him.</p><p>Hinata was the only helpful one as he searched through the room, looking for the keys. Finding them on the table, he handed them over to an enraged Sakusa, who snatched them from Hinata's hand and busied himself undoing the cuffs.</p><p>Bokuto examined the handcuffs and clicked his tongue, "This is the real deal, Sakusa, whoever did this, didn't come to play around."</p><p>Sakusa rolled his eyes as he began carefully peeling off the layers of tape around his wrist.</p><p>"Clearly," he slung a torn piece across the room in disgust.</p><p>Atsumu had managed to regain some semblance of composure, but still continued his teasing, "I didn't know ya were into this sorta stuff, Omi-kun. Maybe ya should be more careful who ya let see yer kinky side."</p><p>Sakusa resisted the urge to rip his smug face off and rose to comb through the room himself, muttering, "I wasn't exactly conscious, you nitwit."</p><p>The blonde had something else to say, but Sakusa tuned him out as he paced around the small room. He walked into the bathroom and noticed the ice bucket had been rinsed out and was in the tub to dry off. Again, he wondered why she had bothered offering it to him, she even took the time to semi-clean it. He shook his head as he continued his search through the bare room, disappointed when he came up with nothing. Not even the trash from the food she had brought earlier was left and she must have taken his weapons with her because they were nowhere to be found.</p><p>Sakusa stood in the middle of the room, arms folded across his chest when he realized they were all looking at him.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Bokuto was the one to speak, "We were wondering what happened. Was this a kidnapping or just a hook up gone wrong?" The large man shifted in front of him, uncomfortable with asking Sakusa such a personal question when the man was normally such a private person.</p><p>Sakusa scoffed at the question, "It most definitely was not a hook up," his mind briefly flashed to the feeling of her lips against his as if calling him a liar. He quashed the thought just as quickly as it came.</p><p>"So it was a kidnapping," the mood shifted to something sharper and Sakusa could almost feel the intensity radiating off the group in front of him.</p><p>"Who was it? What did they want? Did they hurt you?" Bokuto growled.</p><p>It struck Sakusa that maybe riling up Bokuto with nothing there to let his anger out on but them, was probably not the best idea. He tried to placate him as best as he could, "She's long gone, no need to get yourself so worked up. I'm fine, she just asked me a question."</p><p>Hinata's face pinched in confusion, "She? It was just one person? Who was it?"</p><p>"It was that damned assassin we've been tracking for months."</p><p>Like a light switch flipped, Hinata's eyes went round, Bokuto and Atsumu both cursed behind him and moved to search through the room themselves. Hinata continued talking to him.</p><p>"You said she just asked a question. What was it?"</p><p>Sakusa's brow creased as he recalled the odd discussion, "She wanted to know if we knew her name," he shrugged at the identical looks of incredulous confusion around the room, "I tried to get her to explain, but that's when she left."</p><p>"Fuck, man, ya should be glad you're even still alive. She's been whackin our people left and right," Atsumu, with the eloquent words as usual.</p><p>Sakusa hummed, not quite agreeing as he fingered the still damp wascloth she had used to soothe his nausea earlier.</p><p>Hinata saw the hesitation, "You think otherwise?"</p><p>Gloved fingers pushed through his unruly curly hair, messed up from a long night of awkward sleep. He lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug, "How am I supposed to know what a psycho like that is thinking?"</p><p>With the room having been thoroughly cleared, Bokuto clapped his hands together and wrapped an arm around Atsumu's shoulder, stooping down to hang off the slightly shorter man, "Well, it looks like there's no trace of her. Not surprising though. Come on, Sakusa, let's get you home."</p><p>Without another word, Sakusa exited the room, taking nothing but his phone and the handcuffs she had left. Slipping in the car, he told them everything he could remember, starting from when they got separated last night. He omitted the part when she had told him he looked beautiful and the kiss, neither one seemed relevant and would only result in Atsumu's endless taunting. It didn't help that he felt a faint flush whenever he recalled the way her jade eyes shone in the seconds before she had kissed him. His gloved fingers tapped his jaw as he looked out the window of the car, lost in thought.</p><p>******</p><p>Before Sakusa could even think about a shower, he reluctantly dragged himself in front of Meian to recount his story to the boss. Again, he omitted the more embarrassing parts, but otherwise, everything was the same as when he told the others.</p><p>Sakusa watched as Meian remained silent after he finished, the only movement from the older man was his fingers as they tapped away at his desk.</p><p>"You said she asked you if we knew her name?"</p><p>Sakusa nodded.</p><p>"Does she have any defining features? Any tattoos that you saw? Any scars?"</p><p>"It's the same description as always: above average height, athletic build, dark brown hair, and green eyes."</p><p>Meian's fingers stopped their tapping and Sakusa eyed them, "No one's mentioned her eye color," Meian straightened and pulled out a drawer in his desk to riffle through the papers inside, "What kind of green? Light? Dark?"</p><p>Sakusa didn't have any trouble remembering, "Light green, damn near the color of jade," another drawer was opened and more rustling sounded, "Why, sir? Is her eye color important?"</p><p>"Ah hah, here it is," Meian slapped the papers he pulled out down on the desk and pointed to a picture, "Is this her?"</p><p>Sakusa leaned in closer, flipping the papers towards him and picking up the picture. He felt his breath leave him in a rush. It was her, it was clearly taken without her knowledge and from a far off vantage point, but it was definitely her. She held a phone to her ear and had her mouth open, talking to someone as her loose, chocolate hair whipped about in an unseen wind. Her hand reached up and her fingers were dug into the green fabric of her scarf, the same color as her eyes.</p><p>Sakusa swallowed as he realized Meian was still waiting on an answer, "Yeah, that's her."</p><p>"Ah, fuck. That could've been bad," Meian chuckled to himself as he pulled more papers from the hideous depths of his desk and arranged them across his desk, "She's actually assigned to the DateKo company as a hit man. Well, I guess you could say hit woman. She's the only female assassin they employ and she has racked up quite a number in the last few years with them. It says here, they call her a prodigy."</p><p>Sakusa looked closer at the picture, making sure it was really her, "She didn't seem all that impressive."</p><p>Meian raised an eyebrow across the desk, "She managed to keep you against your will like that. I'd say she's far ahead of her competition."</p><p>The younger man scrunched his nose at the reminder of his failure, "So what are we suppose to do about her?"</p><p>"Nothing we can do," Meian held up a hand before Sakusa could interrupt, "Best we can do is assign more guards to our people and make her job harder, but we are not going to track her down. It would end miserably for everyone. Not to mention, if we killed her while she wasn't actively on a job against us, DateKo could pull all their support and we'd be left with our dicks in our hands," Meian leaned back in his chair and Sakusa didn't like the thoughtful expression on his face as he continued, "Besides, now that we have first hand knowledge of how talented she is, it might not be a bad idea to put in a call to DateKo and find out about her contract."</p><p>Sakusa twitched in his seat, "You can't really think it's a good idea to make a contract with her after all the damage she's done to us."</p><p>"I'm not one to hold grudges, Sakusa. I see an opportunity here," when he didn't respond, Meian studied his face more carefully, "Unless there's another reason you think we shouldn't work with her."</p><p>"No, sir," Sakusa responded quietly, "no reason."</p><p>"Good, then if you'll excuse me, I need to make a call."</p><p>Sakusa was out of the room and in the elevator before he realized he still had her picture in his hand. He studied it once more and turned it over where he saw a name scribbled in the corner. He nearly dropped the picture as the two little words processed. That's not possible. And yet, there it was, plain as day, her name: Oikawa Natsu.</p><p>******</p><p>Natsu was in a weird state of euphoria as she collapsed on her couch, finally home. Her hands shook as she combed through her hair. Did she really just kiss a guy who had been on the verge of killing her multiple times that week? Last of the times had been that morning when he nearly choked the life out of her. Her hands ran across the red, angry skin he had gripped. The kiss had seemed like a good idea at the time, she had needed that distraction to throw him off balance and slide out from under him. She hadn't expected him to kiss her back though. No, she hadn't expected that at all.</p><p>She had too much energy to take the nap she knew her body desperately needed. Bouncing off the couch, Natsu ran to her room to change into work out gear and headed out to the small gym near her house. Her body was begging to hit something.</p><p>******</p><p>Another week passed with no new jobs and Natsu was climbing the walls of her house. She had taken to working out twice a day just to stave off the buzzing in her extremities, telling her to move. She decided she would give them one more day before she stormed into their office, demanding some kind of job. She didn't even care what it was at this point, but with her level of experience, they always saved her skills for special jobs.</p><p>One more day, she thought, just as her phone buzzed on the table. Scrambling to pick it up, she smiled at the message:</p><p>-Office 1800</p><p>Whooping, she clambered upstairs to get ready. She started with her hair, sweeping it back into a French braid. Next was dressing herself in a black, low cut sweater over a white button down blouse with a pair of black slacks. She didn't bother with jewelry or make-up, choosing to spend that time strapping herself down with her own assortment of weapons. A small pocket knife in her ankle boots, a light harness for her pair of twin Ruger LC9s she fit under the sweater, along with a small belt of her favorite knives dangling just above the waistline of her pants. To hide obvious bulges, she flung a cool grey jacket over her shoulders and walked out into the cool breeze.</p><p>Arriving at the office, she nodded to the receptionist who nodded back and picked up the phone to let her boss know their hired gun was on her way up. Natsu entered the elevator and swiped a card to push the top floor button. The doors slid closed and she bounced on the balls of her feet in anticipation. Doors opened and she crossed a large lounge area before knocking on the double doors and letting herself in.</p><p>Her contract holder was at his desk typing on the computer and looked up when she entered. He waved her over and pointed to one of the chairs across from him. She took one and waited, trying to keep her leg from bouncing.</p><p>After a few minutes, he looked over his glasses at her and turned to face her, "I didn't get the chance to tell you, but good job last week. We were impressed."</p><p>Natsu nodded, accepting the praise. It really wasn't that difficult of a job, but she wasn't inclined to tell him so.</p><p>He sat back in his chair, taking off his glasses and setting them aside as he continued, "As you know, your contract with us expires in a couple weeks. Have you given any thought to renewing it?"</p><p>She had actually forgotten about it completely. She gave him a light chuckle, "I'm still on the fence. While I appreciate every opportunity you and your people have given me, I still need to talk to the company about my options." Generic political bullshit.</p><p>He nodded, "I understand. We'll all be sad to see you go. You'll let us know if there's anything we can do to make you stay, won't you?"</p><p>She smiled at him, hoping this wasn't the only reason she had been called up here, "Of course I will."</p><p>He cleared his throat and sat up to push a cream colored folder across the desk towards her. It always struck her as funny this place gave her the targets in such a pretty looking folder, considering what everyone knew what she was doing with the information in it.</p><p>"Your next job. All the details are in there."</p><p>Now, her grin was genuine as she scooped up the folder and bowed her way out the door, eager to settle this feeling in her bones.</p><p>******</p><p>The last weeks of her contract passed and Natsu put in a call to her boss. They exchanged greetings before he said, "I'm actually glad you called because I just got off the phone with a client who was interested in your contract."</p><p>"Oh?" Natsu doubted this had just happened, she knew how long it took for deals like this, but she would play along, "Anyone interesting?"</p><p>"Well, that depends. How interesting do you find the Black Jackals of Tokyo?"</p><p>Natsu nearly choked on her own spit as she sputtered, "Wha- They're wanting me to work for them?"</p><p>If he heard the shock in her voice, he ignored it, "Indeed, I'd say they want you pretty bad. They were even willing to increase your rate by 25%."</p><p>Natsu sucked in a breath, "Well, how can I say no to that?" No, seriously, how could she possibly refuse their offer without raising her boss's suspicions?</p><p>"So, you wish for me to send you a copy of the contract?"</p><p>"Absolutely, sir," goddamn it, how did they figure out who she was? Dark curls and equally dark eyes revisited her thoughts and she cursed herself. That damned Jackal.</p><p>They both exchanged goodbyes and hung up.</p><p>Natsu sat clutching her phone until the contract came through. She opened the file and skimmed over the terms with a practiced eye, her gaze catching on the increased pay, just as her boss said. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the terms, nothing to suggest they were doing this with malicious intent.</p><p>She wavered slightly before sending her acceptance to her boss and waited for her new employers to contact her. Sometimes the only way out, was through.</p><p>******</p><p>Sakusa sat at the table along with Atsumu, Bokuto, and Hinata, with Meian at the head. They had all been gathered to be formerly introduced to the new addition to their ranks, at least for the next year or so. Sakusa still couldn't believe Meian had actually followed through with hiring her. Even after Sakusa had pointed out she was part of the Oikawa family.</p><p>The Oikawas were practically royalty in this line of work, the father was in charge of the Aoba Johsai section that ran half of Miyagi, along with the notorious Shiratorizawa. The next in line, they called him the Prince of Seijoh, her brother, Oikawa Tooru, was soon to take his place as the head and 'King' of Seijoh. None of that seemed to bother Meian in the slightest as he had dismissed Sakusa's concerns with a wave of his hand.</p><p>"She's late, Meian-san."</p><p>Meian gave him a tired smile, "We told her to be here at 11 and it's not yet 11, Sakusa. Please be patient."</p><p>Sakusa clenched his jaw behind his mask and resumed bouncing his leg, very much impatiently.</p><p>Not two minutes later, there was a knock at the door and before Meian could say 'enter', it was pushed open and she walked in. Oikawa Natsu. Knowing her name, he could see the resemblance to her brother. They shared the same large eyes, same colored hair, and the same delicate facial features. Even shared the same attitude, if rumors were to be believed.</p><p>She stood in front of them, green eyes narrowed in suspicion as she laid a hand on her hips, fingering the fabric of her sweater.</p><p>Meian was the first to stand, offering her the seat across from Sakusa, "Welcome, Oikawa. It's a pleasure to have you join us."</p><p>She glanced at Sakusa before shaking her head, "Please, call me Natsu, Oikawa belongs to my father and brother," she took the seat offered to her and pointedly looked anywhere but the dark gaze straight in front of her. She was hyper aware that everyone in the room, with the exception of Meian, had tried to kill her at least once in the past several months. Natsu unconsciously raised a hand to massage her neck, still feeling the fingers tighten, crushing her windpipe and leaving bruises for days.</p><p>Hinata broke the silence, awkwardly offering, "I have a little sister with the name Natsu."</p><p>She glanced over at him, grateful for the distraction, "I'll bet she does the name much more justice than I do."</p><p>Orange hair shifted as he laughed, "Yeah, probably."</p><p>Natsu smiled back at him, glad at least one person wasn't a stick in the mud.</p><p>Meian cleared his throat, demanding the room, "I understand there might be some hard feelings between us, but I wanted you here when I said this to my people," he paused to look every one of them in the eye, "We do not hold any grudges and I expect every one of you to remember that, and behave accordingly," he glared especially hard at Sakusa until the younger jerked his head in a brief nod.</p><p>Meian smiled back at Natsu, "Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing what you bring to the table and I find myself excited to work with you." He stood to offer her a hand and she took it, surprised at the strength radiating off it.</p><p> Instead of sitting back down, Meian walked over to a door in the corner of the room, presumably leading to his office, and looked back, "I should have your first assignment ready in two days, please allow my guys to show you our hospitality," with that, he disappeared into his office.</p><p>A moment of silence fell as the unfamiliar faces looked at each other. The white and black haired bulk of muscle decided he would be the one to break the silence, "So, uh, my name's Bokuto," he pointed to the ginger haired smaller man beside him, "This is Hinata, that's Atsumu," the blonde across the table raised a hand in mock salute, "and I guess you kinda already know Sakusa."</p><p>Natsu looked across the table at the pair of black eyes set above a white mask and couldn't help the grin that broke out across her face, "Oh yeah, me and Omi-kun go way back," she saw his hands clench on the table and her smile widened.</p><p>Atsumu busted out laughing and slapped the table, "Wow, talk about startin' off on the wrong foot, huh Omi?" Jet black eyes shot him a warning glare, but Atsumu paid him no mind, instead, reaching across the table to shake Natsu's hand, "I'm a big fan of yer work, I particularly liked the piece ya did with our dear Omi. His face when we opened the door to that hotel room was," he mimicked a chef's kiss, "immaculate. Fuckin' priceless. I couldn't ask for anythin' better."</p><p>Natsu covered her smile behind her hand, trying and failing to feign modesty, "I can't imagine he was too pleased with it though."</p><p>"Oh definitely not, it was like kickin' a hornet's nest."</p><p>Natsu and Atsumu both laughed at the visual and Sakusa stood up abruptly, quickly getting tired of this bit, "I see no reason for me to stay here and listen to this."</p><p>"Aw, come on Omi-kun, we were just messin' with ya, there's no need to be getting embarrassed. I'm sure it could've happened to any of us," Atsumu whined, trying to keep Sakusa with them.</p><p>Bokuto nodded, "Why don't we all go out together and celebrate the new addition?" Why did Natsu have a feeling Bokuto was always looking for a reason to drink?</p><p>Natsu smiled and looked at Sakusa, in a challenge, "I'll go, but only if we all go." His black eyes bore holes into her, clearly wishing he could set her on fire with the force of his gaze alone.</p><p>"Fine," he growled and everyone became swept up in Bokuto and Atsumu's overwhelming excitement.</p><p>******</p><p>Two bars, and many drinks later, Natsu found herself showing off her diminishing hand-eye coordination with darts as she hit the bullseye nonstop. Atsumu and Bokuto were being way too loud as they began demanding her to hit specific parts of the bar, which she took as an acceptable challenge.</p><p>Hinata was trying his hardest to reign them all in as Natsu excused herself to go to the bathroom. She had just finished drying her hands and turned to open the door when she nearly ran smack into Sakusa.</p><p>"What are yo-," she slurred, oh boy, she was drunk.</p><p>Natsu squinted, trying to sort her way through what was happening with her hazy brain. Was Sakusa actually in the bathroom with her? She giggled at the ludicrous thought, but still took the time in the better lighting to appreciate his face. Now that the mask was off, he looked so much softer, his dark, curly bangs tipped over his forehead, eyes just as black as his hair set over a faint flush from his cheeks, making him look even more stunning.</p><p>She giggled again as she grabbed onto his shirt and brought him, stumbling, closer as she whispered, "So fucking beautiful."</p><p>Sakusa was glad he wasn't half as drunk as it looked like Natsu was. She was a fumbling, giggling mess. He had expected that, but what he hadn't planned on was her grabbing him like that and pulling him towards her. He was so surprised, he almost missed when she mumbled something about being beautiful and leaned in to kiss him.</p><p>He broke off the kiss as soon as he realized what it was and held her by her shoulders at arms length, determined not to get distracted. He wasn't a fan of making out with drunk people, especially not ones that were so obviously wasted like Natsu currently was.</p><p>Sakusa tilted her head by her chin to look up at him as he spoke slowly, hoping she wasn't too far gone to understand him, "Did someone send you here for information on us?"</p><p>Natsu couldn't focus on his face anymore. Closing her eyes to hopefully stop a little of the spinning, she mumbled, "No, I accepted your contract," she was confused why he was asking her these questions.</p><p>"Are you still in contact with your dad or brother?" He hated every part of this, but since no one, especially Meian seemed to be concerned about the implications of her having the name Oikawa, he decided to take it upon himself to find out. As distasteful as it was, this was probably his best chance of getting a straight answer from her. This needed to be done.</p><p>Now Natsu was really confused, "I'm pissed at Pops and Tooru. Why would I talk to them?"</p><p>Sakusa held her gaze for a few more seconds before breathing out a sigh. Maybe she really did just go wherever her contracts took her. The flash of anger in her eyes when she mentioned her family seemed real enough, anyways.</p><p>He released her shoulders and stepped back, "I'm sorry for cornering you like this, I just had to make sure," he turned to leave when he felt fingers curl through his hair and pull his head down forcefully.</p><p>Sakusa let out a startled noise, but it was swallowed by Natsu's mouth as she moved it against his own, silently asking permission to take more. Those drinks he'd had earlier came back to haunt him in this moment as he relaxed for a second against her, enjoying the feeling of her soft lips against his. Opening his mouth to her once again as her tongue swept in to brush against his own, leaving the sweet taste of her mixed drinks all across his mouth.</p><p>Pulling back to breathe, Sakusa realized his hands had found their way to the tops of her hips. He snatched them back, maybe he was a little more drunk than he had originally thought.</p><p>He took a step back, trying to extricate himself from her touch, but only managed to be backed into a wall. It did not escape his notice that he could easily push her away and walk out the door, but he couldn't bring himself to actually raising his hands.</p><p>A groan escaped his lungs as her lips, no longer occupied with his own, began crawling their way down the side of his neck and her fingers trailed down to unbutton his shirt. A brief moment of clarity struck him and he brushed her hands away and instantly regretted it as her fingers found a new article of clothing to loosen. Sakusa jerked away from her as he felt her palm him through his pants. Like a strike of lightening his his nerves, he immediately grabbed her by the shoulders again to push her carefully away and hold her there.</p><p>Breathing embarrassingly hard, Sakusa quickly slipped out the door before one more thing happened to make him further regret following her in here. He hurried over to their table, telling everyone he needed to leave and he would see them all later. Atsumu and Bokuto both booed him as he walked away, but he caught Hinata's caramel brown eyes following him quizzically. Ignoring it, he ducked out of the bar and headed home to jump in the shower and wash off the lingering feeling of Natsu's feather light touches and warm lips.</p><p>******</p><p>Natsu blinked awake in the harsh glare of the sunlight falling through her window, across her bed, where she laid, still fully clothed and on top of the covers. She groaned as she sat up, clutching her head and stumbling to the bathroom in search for some pain relievers. Downing her small treasures with a few small sips from the tap, she sighed and made her way downstairs to fix herself some food.</p><p>As she fixed herself a light breakfast at the early hour of noon, she tried to piece together what she could from last night. There were lots of drinks and lots of laughs. She remembered Atsumu and Bokuto being extraordinarily loud most of the night. She remembered her and Hinata hitting it off and talking earlier in the night.</p><p>Natsu rubbed her temples, trying to recall anything after their second stop, but all she got was a brief glimpse of a dartboard and, maybe, the inside of a bathroom. Was she playing darts in the bathroom? Fuck, she didn't know. It hurt too much to continue thinking about, so she gave up and focused on coaching herself through her hangover.</p><p>Later in the day, she got a message from Meian.</p><p>Meian: Same place around noon tomorrow</p><p>Natsu sent her acknowledgment and set her phone back down, eager to start working again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh, wow. You actually read all that nonsense? Nerd!</p><p>Haha! I'm just kidding! It really means a lot to me that you stuck with it and if you want to read more, I've easily got about 8 chapters ready to go, but I want to release them slowly to get a feel for how well they're received. Sorry if that seems selfish!</p><p>Since this is my first time posting anything, I'm pretty attention starved, so I'll probably respond to most comments (if not all of them). Unless they're some awful stuff (I'm not that desperate lol).</p><p>Please let me know what you think, if there's anything I missed in the tags, please let me know and I'll update. Let me know if you see something I can improve on, don't hesitate to bring it up. I have a lot of trouble with inner monologue (as you probably noticed) descriptors really aren't my thing, but I'm working on it.</p><p>Anyways, thanks so much for spending your time on something that I made. It really means a lot and I swear if even one person likes this, just know that you have found yourself a devoted best friend =) and you have made my day (night/whatever)</p><p>More updates soon (hopefully)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Bullet Holes and Black outs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I added more tags to this one, please look at them. I don't want anyone being caught off guard.</p><p>Naming these chapters is going to kill me, I can already feel it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This time, when Natsu entered the building, she came early and sat in the lobby as she waited for the receptionist to give her the green light. Natsu pulled out a knife from one of her hiding places and began absent-mindedly twirling it through her fingers. Lost in her thoughts, she jumped when someone behind her spoke to her.</p><p>"I'd rather you not cut yourself and bleed all over the place."</p><p>Natsu glanced back and smiled at her favorite curly haired grumpy pants, "Aw, how sweet of you to say, Omi-kun," she stashed her knife back under her sweater and turned to face him, throwing an arm across the back of the chair to fully take him in.</p><p>Sakusa stood several feet away, hands in his jacket pockets, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. She had to admit, he looked really good in that dark silk button down and grey slacks. Natsu idly wondered what it would feel like to unbutton that shirt.</p><p>She blinked as she saw what felt like a memory of her doing exactly that as she kissed down the side of his neck. Natsu almost fell out of her seat as she realized that was part of her missing memory from the other night.</p><p>Coming back to the present, she saw that he was looking at her like she was suppose to respond.</p><p>"What was that?" She asked slowly, still trying to pull other disjointed fragments of memory back from the depths of her mind.</p><p>"I said, I think Meian-san is done, if you're ready to head up," he looked at her, brow furrowed over his mask, making his twin beauty marks pinch together.</p><p>Natsu nodded, dazed, and followed after him to the elevator, where he punched in the floor number and watched her as the doors closed.</p><p>Finally, he asked her, "What's with you? You seem off."</p><p>She looked up at him and blew a laugh, adopting her fallback happy-go-lucky attitude that had served her well so far.</p><p>"Oh, nothing, I'm totally fine. I just seem to be missing several hours from the other night," she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "I don't suppose you know what happened during that time, do you?"</p><p>Sakusa pulled his mask up farther on his face and shook his head, "Sorry, I left pretty soon after you and Bokuto started playing around with darts," he avoided her eyes and watched the floor numbers crawl up slowly, wishing they would go faster.</p><p>Natsu hummed and moved to flick invisible lint off of his shoulder, but seeing him flinch, she backed off, "So that's why I remember darts. Seems like I remember bits and pieces, but not the whole thing. Blackouts are a bitch sometimes, aren't they?"</p><p>"What bits and pieces do you remember? Maybe I can help fill in the blanks."</p><p>"But didn't you say you left right after the darts?" If this was to be a game of beating around the bush, he was severely outmatched.</p><p>Sakusa blew a breath out and ran a gloved hand through his black hair, giving her another flash back to when she had her hands twisting in his hair, gripping his soft curls and pulling his face down to hers.</p><p>Natsu sighed, more at herself than anything as she tapped the wall of the elevator, "Nah, nevermind. I guess whatever happened, it was probably my fault," she smiled up at him and winked as the doors opened, "I can get a little handsy when I'm drunk. Sorry about that."</p><p>Sakusa watched in mild shock as she walked straight into the meeting room without a backwards glance. He groaned as he stepped out as well. This woman was going to be the death of him.</p><p>Following behind her, he took a seat at the table, Bokuto and Hinata were already there and he nodded to both before settling down.</p><p>Sakusa glanced at Natsu across the table and saw her already talking to Hinata. It seemed like the little ball of sunshine had taken quite a liking to the cold hearted assassin. Odd as it looked, they did appear to get along, each of them having some inner unseen drive and ambition that recognized itself in another.</p><p>Sakusa watched her carefully for any signs that she was uncomfortable or angry, knowing what happened the other night, but he saw nothing. Well, it would be more accurate to say that she gave him nothing to work with. Her face was a perfect picture of pleasantries while she talked to an animated Hinata. Either she truly wasn't bothered, or she was far better at hiding it than anyone had a right to be.</p><p>Meian walked out of his office and looked surprised to see everyone there already. It seems everyone had shared the same idea to be early today. Meian moved to the head of the table and started the meeting, "Good afternoon, I wasn't expecting everyone to be here so early, but I guess we can go ahead and get started."</p><p>Sakusa noted Natsu's eyes flick over to the empty seat beside him where Atsumu had been the other day. She noticed his absence, but stayed silent, waiting for Meian to hand them all a small folder. Natsu watched as the others immediately opened it, but she kept hers closed in order to pay attention to what was being said.</p><p>"I'm sure most of you will recognize the people in here, and yes, we are officially cutting ties with this group. They have been doing side deals and breaking their word with us for months now. It's time they remember who they're dealing with." There was a round of soft murmuring from Bokuto and Hinata in agreement.</p><p>Natsu shifted in her seat and drummed her fingers on the table, steadily becoming impatient. Normally, her employers would simply hand her a brief description about the target, most likely hideouts, well known associates, that kind of thing. This felt like more of a team effort and her pride wasn't taking the damage too well.</p><p>Her movement caught Sakusa's eye. Well, he had already been watching her, but that was neither here nor there. Not wanting to interrupt Meian, Sakusa waited until he was done speaking before snapping at her.</p><p>"Spit it out."</p><p>Natsu raised an eyebrow across the table before sitting up, "I'm not one to complain about more information, but I'm sure everything I need to find these people is going to be in here," she tapped the still closed folder next to her on the table, "No disrespect at all sir, but I fail to see how I'm still needed at this meeting. I mean, you know what I do, it's not really a group activity."</p><p>Not bothered by her issues, Meian waved a hand, "Of course there's information in the folder, and no, I suppose assassination isn't normally a group activity," he chuckled to himself, "but I would like you to stick around for a few more minutes, because there's something else I would like to discuss."</p><p>With that, he turned to address the whole table, "As you all are aware, I've given Miya a leave of absence, he's back home visiting with his brother," Hinata leaned forward to ask a question, but Meian cut him off, "Everything is fine, no emergencies as far as I'm aware. He just said he felt that his brother needed him back home."</p><p>Natsu heard Bokuto mutter to Hinata, "Twins are fucking weird," before Meian continued.</p><p>"As this leaves us with a man short, I would like for Natsu to partner up with Sakusa for the assignment."</p><p>Sakusa's eyes widened at Meian, but he stayed silent. He looked at Natsu, his eyes seemed to be urging her to refuse the offer, but she was already planning to.</p><p>"I'm sure Sakusa is more than capable of handling at least a couple of these guys himself," there was an offended scoff across the table, "but I'm not exactly a team player and I wouldn't want him to slow me down," she grinned at Sakusa as she saw his gloved hands tighten around his arms.</p><p>Meian shook his head at her, "Sorry, but this is the way I want it done. I want you two to take the lead on this along with Miya, when he gets back," he looked at Bokuto and Hinata, "and I want you two to provide back up and be an extra set of eyes. No major moves without checking with these two first, understood?" Meian's dark brown eyes narrowed at Bokuto and waited until the dual toned head nodded his affirmation.</p><p>Natsu still wasn't happy and tried to argue her case, "Sir, I'm sure you've read through the list of my accomplishments. I would like to point out all those were done without a partner."</p><p>Dark brown eyes cut to Natsu, finally about to lose his patience, "Do you have a problem with my orders?"</p><p>As rude and brash as Natsu could be, she was well acquainted with the sound of a leader on the verge of being pushed too far. Lowering her head, she responded, "No, sir. It seems like a great idea." She may have her pride, but Natsu wasn't stupid.</p><p>Meian nodded and they continued the meeting without further incident.</p><p>Afterwards, Meian withdrew back into his office, Bokuto and Hinata made their way over to the elevator, and Sakusa stayed seated. Natsu watched him meticulously pick through the papers in the folder and carefully read through each one before setting it down in a neat little stack. Still not too thrilled at being partnered up, Natsu sat back in her chair and drummed her fingers on the table.</p><p>Sakusa flicked his eyes up in annoyance, "I'm trying to concentrate. If staying quiet is that hard for you, you're welcome to leave." He went back to studying the materials in front of him.</p><p>Natsu blew out a bored breath, tilting her head back, "Boy, you are a barrel of laughs, chuckles," she rolled her head to the side, choosing to study him instead of the papers, "You always wear those masks and gloves, or is that, like, a new thing?"</p><p>She saw his jaw clench under the mask and smiled to herself.</p><p>Deciding to leave well enough alone, she continued looking up at the ceiling before he interrupted her thoughts, "You haven't opened your folder, you should really read through the information so we can form a strategy."</p><p>"I have my own way of reading the materials and I'd rather wait until I'm home to do that."</p><p>Natsu was still looking up, but she could clearly picture the pinched look on his face.</p><p>"I'd rather not wait until tomorrow to get started on this. I have a pretty good idea where at least one of these guys is."</p><p>Natsu picked her head up at that, interest thoroughly piqued, "Oh really? Well, why don't you point me in the right direction and I'll make sure to give you credit when I tell Meian."</p><p>"That's not how this works."</p><p>"Ugh," she folded her arms on the table and rested her chin on top, "Come on, grumpy pants. It's not like you're thrilled to be working together either. Besides, I'm itching to get moving over here."</p><p>"I do what Meian-san tells me, whether I like it or not. Also, we're talking about killing people, not going out for a leisurely walk, a little professionalism would be nice," Sakusa's disapproval was seeping through the mask.</p><p>"We're not doing anything but looking at papers right now."</p><p>Sakusa sighed and stood up, gathering the aforementioned papers and placing them carefully back in the folder. Natsu stood with him and followed him to the elevator.</p><p>"Still not going to tell me where to find him, huh? Then I guess I have no choice but to follow you, partner."</p><p>"That's what Meian-san wants," he didn't sound too happy as he smashed the button for the elevator.</p><p>While they waited for the doors to open, Natsu slipped out the pictures of the targets and thumbed through them. She had a good knack for remembering faces, so she was confident she would be able to recognize any of them if she saw them again. She paused on the second to last one and squinted at the face. She must have made a noise, because Sakusa turned his head towards her as the doors opened.</p><p>"You recognize someone?"</p><p>She did, actually, but she couldn't tell him that. Part of her contract was that she was expressly forbidden from telling anyone from separate 'agencies' anything about what she learned while working for them. It was an automatic death sentence. And since she had met this man at her last job, she was kept from telling Sakusa anything about him, so she shook her head.</p><p>"Nope, just looks like someone I know, that's all."</p><p>They both stepped into the elevator and Sakusa pushed the button for the underground parking deck before turning back to Natsu.</p><p>"You're lying. Are you trying to cover for someone?"</p><p>Natsu rolled her eyes, "You clearly have never worked with a hired gun before, have you?"</p><p>"Meian-san contracts out most of our security to your company, but no, we've never hired someone like you before."</p><p>Natsu chuckled and repeated, "Someone like me," she sighed as she watched the numbers count down the floors, "I'm not allowed to talk about anything I see while I'm contracted out," Sakusa didn't move beside her, but she could tell he was listening.</p><p>"Names, faces, information, everything stays secret. Say I were to leave here and the next employer puts out a hit on one of you, I'm not allowed to act on any of my previous knowledge of you guys. I can only go off what they give me."</p><p>Sakusa hummed as he tracked the flashing numbers along the wall, "Have you had to do that before?"</p><p>Natsu stayed quiet until the doors opened into a low lit parking garage. Stepping out, she murmured, "No, but I've known people who have," they stopped just outside the elevator as the doors closed behind them, "They're not the same."</p><p>Sakusa glanced at Natsu out of the corner of his eye, but her face was turned away. Not knowing what else to do, he clicked the unlock button for his car and they both moved towards the black four door whose lights flashed.</p><p>Swinging into the passenger's seat, Natsu adjusted it for someone of her height, instead of whatever giant used to sit here. Not that she was particularly short statured, in fact, she was pretty tall herself, standing at a height of 5'8", but clearly the person before her liked to stretch out in this seat.</p><p>Sakusa slid in beside her with a pinched look on his face as he watched her adjust the seat. He sighed before turning the car on and pulling out into traffic.</p><p>Natsu leaned forward to turn the radio up when her hands were slapped away.</p><p>"Don't touch anything," he didn't even glance down. Only continued looking out the window.</p><p>"Then you entertain me, because this tin can is freaking boring," she crossed her arms over her chest and turned to look at him.</p><p>Sakusa expertly ignored her, focusing on the road as he maneuvered through traffic.</p><p>Natsu huffed, "At least tell me which one of these guys we're after today, let me prepare a little." She spread out the pictures on her lap and was pleasantly surprised when he tapped one of them. Pulling it out to fully examine it, she committed the face to memory as they rode the rest of the way in silence.</p><p>They pulled up to a nondescript building and Natsu glanced out the window before turning back to Sakusa.</p><p>"So what's the plan?" She squinted at the clean lines of his jacket, "Are you even strapped? It doesn't look like you're packing much," he glanced over at her and she winked back at him, "weapon-wise at least."</p><p>Sakusa closed his eyes and sighed a long suffering sound, clearly not amused by her joke. He opened his eyes and fixed her with a withering glare.</p><p>"I have what I need, should I bother asking about you?"</p><p>She shook her head, patting her sides, "I'm good, I just need to know what we're walking into."</p><p>"That guy takes part in a gambling ring that meets in the basement of this building once a week around this time," he flicked his wrist to check his watch.</p><p>"Seems a little early to be gambling, don't you think?"</p><p>"I don't make the schedule," he moved to get out of the car when Natsu straightened up.</p><p>"Wait, hold on. We're just busting in there? What about the other people?"</p><p>"We're not there for them," his black eyes stared at her across the car.</p><p>"So we just let them go?"</p><p>Sakusa's brow furrowed over his mask as he tried to understand her confusion, "Yes. What's the issue here?"</p><p>Natsu flung her hands up, "Oh, I don't know, the fact that we're just waltzing in there and casually killing a dude, then walking out like no one's going to stop us."</p><p>"You're underestimating the amount of influence the Black Jackals have around here."</p><p>"And you're underestimating how much shit can go wrong with you just walking up in there," Natsu hissed.</p><p>"I've thought it through. These people know me. They will not cross me."</p><p>Natsu groaned into her hand, realizing he spoke with the confidence of someone who was thoroughly convinced of their win.</p><p>"Fine," she glared at him, wishing she could burn him with her stare, "We'll do this your way, but when it goes south, I hope you remember this moment and how I tried to talk you out of it."</p><p>Sakusa ignored her and climbed out of the car to walk inside with Natsu right behind him, a hand casually reaching under her sweater. He didn't bother looking at what weapon she had as he lead her into the building and past two bodyguards beside the door to the stairs.</p><p>Natsu noticed how both men stiffened at the sight of Sakusa breezing through the door. <em>Well fuck me, this might actually work</em>, she thought as she followed his lean frame down the decrepit stairs and into the makeshift gambling den.</p><p>Through a haze of cigarette smoke, Natsu could see a dozen tables with people gathered around them shouting at each other and laughing. A hush fell slowly over the room as the all noticed the two new additions at the bottom of the stairs.</p><p>Sakusa stepped out where everyone could see him and nodded at Natsu to go find their target while he addressed the room.</p><p>"Sorry to cut your games short, but an important matter has come up and we need to speak to that man," he pointed to where Natsu had worked her way to the man in question and clapped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing a warning as Sakusa continued.</p><p>"Of course, anyone is welcome to stay behind, but I wouldn't advise it." He looked at each person in turn as they all rose from their seats slowly, eyes downcast as they avoided looking at the man they had singled out.</p><p>Natsu couldn't help but be impressed at the way he commanded the room. It struck her as odd. She would have thought this taciturn man would hate being around people. Yet here he was, commandeering everyone's gaze, allowing her to remain overlooked. She felt the man tremble under her hand and she leaned down to his in his ear.</p><p>"Don't move a muscle." The man whimpered, but he clamped his mouth shut and gripped the edge of the table, desperately trying to catch anyone's eyes as they made their way out.</p><p>When they were alone, Natsu chuckled at Sakusa, "That was a sight to see."</p><p>She released the man's shoulder and he fell forward, scrambling to get up on his knees in front of Sakusa, babbling his apologies and asking for forgiveness. It was a hard thing to watch so Sakusa ignored him and looked at Natsu.</p><p>"Is it painful to admit when you're wrong?"</p><p>Natsu grinned as she reached back under her sweater to replace her knife with her handgun. Silently leveling the gun at the side of the man's head she raised an eyebrow at Sakusa.</p><p>"I'll admit I'm wrong when I'm proven wrong." She squeezed the trigger and watched the man's head snap to the side, taking his body with it as he tumbled over and lay still.</p><p>Sakusa wrinkled his nose at the sight and stepped carefully around the growing pool of blood. He took his phone out of his pocket and began typing out a message to someone as he started back up the stairs.</p><p>Natsu followed and they were halfway up the stairs when they heard a crash at the top. Looking up, they saw the door being kicked in and a rather large man coming down the stairs, gun raised and aimed straight at Sakusa.</p><p>Sakusa reached for his own gun still in the depths of his jacket, but Natsu was faster. Lunging forward, she gripped the back of his jacket and shoved her shoulder just above his hip, knocking them both off the stairs. There was a loud crack from the gun and an intense burning sensation bloomed in Natsu's shoulder as the both of them tumbled to the side. Slamming into the concrete floor, Natsu's vision nearly whited-out with pain, but she still managed to move her body, rolling to pop back to her feet, knife in one hand, gun in the other.</p><p>The man came stumbling and screaming unintelligible words down the stairs as both Natsu and Sakusa scrambled behind two different tables, looking for cover. Natsu hissed as she tried to move her arm and felt a searing pain, along with the warmth of blood pouring from her shoulder. Gripping the knife in her uninjured hand, she waited, listening to the man came wailing down the stairs behind a hail of bullets spraying every which way. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sakusa move to aim his gun and she went to stand up at the same time. The man's eyes went to her, being the bigger target, and swung the gun around to fire at her. Too slow.</p><p>Her knife buried itself in his neck at the same time a bullet pierced his brain.</p><p>With the chaos over, Natsu fell to her knee to take a closer look at her wound. At least, that's what she told herself, because fuck did that shit hurt.</p><p>Sakusa stood up from behind the table, keeping his gun trained on the dead intruder as he made sure there was no other surprises. Satisfied they were alone, he reached inside his jacket to stow his gun and turned to Natsu. His eyes widened as he took in her jacket sleeve, soaked with blood.</p><p>Natsu tried to smile up at him, but it probably came out as mostly a grimace. She removed her jacket and balled it up to press it messily into the wound.</p><p>Gritting out between clenched teeth, she said, "Good thing I didn't go through the trouble of saying I was wrong. This would've been really awkward."</p><p>Sakusa frowned down at her, shifting from foot to foot, not wanting to come any closer, but not knowing what else to do, he matched her sarcasm.</p><p>"If you're going to bleed to death, can you hurry up and do it here so you don’t stain the inside of my car?"</p><p>Natsu huffed out a laugh and groaned as the movement caused another shooting pain.</p><p>"What's the matter, Omi-kun? Don't tell me you're squeamish." She pulled herself to stand up, leaning her hip hard against the table that was miraculously still standing.</p><p>Sakusa ignored her and led her back up the stairs, waiting for her to retrieve her knife from the man's neck and catch up. He stopped every few feet to look back and make sure she was still able to move on her own as they traipsed up the stairs again.</p><p>They made it outside and Sakusa quickly pulled open her car door, stopping her before she got in and making sure she looked him in the face, "Not a single drop of blood."</p><p>Natsu rolled her eyes and slid carefully into the seat, rotating her body sideways to spare his precious interior.</p><p>She gritted through the pain, "Just for you Omi-kun, I'll be sure to keep the blood on the inside of my body. How's that work for you?"</p><p>His response was the door closing in her face as he swung around to get in the driver's side and sling them into traffic. Natsu cursed as her body was jostled by the force and she shot a glare at Sakusa, which he ignored as well.</p><p>For Natsu, it felt like they were in the car for hours, when in reality, it was probably only a few minutes. The burning in her shoulder intensified with every passing heartbeat and while she knew it wasn't necessarily a life threatening injury at the moment, it still really fucking hurt.</p><p>Sakusa swung the car into a parking spot in front of a fancy looking house along a well off street. Natsu wanted to ask where they were, but the pain seemed to be seeping into her bones and it was hard enough keeping her blood off the car without having to engage in verbal warfare with the man next to her.</p><p>She tried not to think too hard about why she cared enough to actually be worried about dirtying up his car when she was the one who had been shot. She chalked it up to wanting to get along with the person who would be her 'partner' for however long this job was going to take.</p><p>Sakusa opened the door and waited patiently for her to all but fall out of the car before leading her up the walkway and into the house.</p><p>Natsu noticed the keys in his hands, but again, it was overwhelming trying to think of something to say, so she stayed silent and let him lead her through the house and into a massive bathroom.</p><p>Sakusa shrugged off his jacket before hanging it gently on a hook. He pointed to the giant bathtub off to the side of the room</p><p>"Take off your shirt and get in there." He loosened the clasps at his wrists and began rolling up the smooth fabric of his sleeves before bending down and rummaging through the cabinets under the sink and throwing her a trash bag.</p><p>"Put your clothes in there," he said before turning back to the cabinets.</p><p>Natsu hissed as the sweater brushed against the open wound when she contorted her upper body to take it off. Next, was her weapon harness and she felt her fingers tremble as she fumbled with the belt across her chest. Biting her lip to keep from crying out, she finally worked the belt loose and laid all of her weapons to the side before taking a deep breath and starting on the button for her soiled blouse.</p><p>She was growing increasingly frustrated as her fingers refused to listen to her. She tried flexing them and blowing warmth back into them, but they were still twitching and clumsy.</p><p>A pair of gloved hands entered her vision and replaced her struggling fingers. Natsu blinked, they were different gloves than before, these were latex, like the ones doctors used. She looked up at Sakusa and found his eyes concentrated solely on the task at hand. She glanced away and huffed as he finished unbuttoning her blouse and carefully peeled the fabric off her shoulders to place it in the bag along with the rest of her ruined clothes.</p><p>Natsu stood awkwardly in her sports bra and slacks before remembering she was suppose to get in the empty tub. Holding her injured arm, she carefully lowered herself into the giant porcelain bowl just in time for a drop of blood from her arm to splash a deep scarlet against the bone white tub. Natsu stretched out and laid long ways in the bathtub as she looked over at the assortment of tools Sakusa had been busy arranging on the counter next to her head.</p><p>"Geez, you do this often? Patch people up in a bathtub?" It was meant to sound much more easy going than it came out and the echo in the large room set her teeth on edge.</p><p>Sakusa, of course, ignored her and grabbed her arm to lay it out on the edge of the tub so he could get better access.</p><p>Natsu couldn't help the gasp that escaped her as her arm was suddenly moved like that. She gripped the edge of the tub hard as the pain exploded</p><p>Sakusa's voice was calm as he handed her a bottle of scotch, "Drink this, it'll lessen the pain."</p><p>Natsu squinted up at him, "That'll make me bleed out faster, Dr. Sakusa. Where did you say you got your medical degree again?"</p><p>A dark colored eye twitched over a mask, "I would be worried about it if I wasn’t going to stitch you up in a few minutes. First, I'm going to need to dig around in that wound, pull out the bullet, and hope it isn't lodged in a bone," he shook the bottle at her, amber liquid sloshing around, "You'll want this."</p><p>Natsu groaned and rolled her eyes as she tipped the bottle back, letting the burn suffocate her with a few gulps.</p><p>Tongue already feeling fuzzy, she offered it back to Sakusa and said bitterly, "Let me guess, now you're going to use this to sanitize th- Oh my fucking god!" She bit off the end of her sentence as she shoved her knuckles into her mouth to keep still as he splashed the burning liquid into her bullet wound.</p><p>She'd never wanted to murder someone more than she did in that moment.</p><p>Shooting daggers at him, Natsu panted through the pain, "You bastard."</p><p>Sakusa calmly set the bottle aside and picked up what looked like long, blunt tweezers to begin probing the opening of the wound.</p><p>Natsu wasn't sure how long she sat with her fist crushed against her mouth, muffling the profanities threatening to fall from her lips. Every movement Sakusa made was complete agony and her entire existence boiled down to the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she tried to regulate her breathing.</p><p>Eventually, the sharp pains subsided and she rolled her head to the side in time to see Sakusa holing the tweezers delicately in his hand as he dropped a piece of metal onto a separate try. She glared at the offending object, upset that something so small would dare cause her this much inconvenience.</p><p>Sakusa set the instrument in his hand down before grabbing a disinfectant soaked strip of gauze and cleaning the smeared blood on her arm. Fresh blood continued to leak out, but he didn't seem concerned as he sat back to remove his gloves and replace them with clean ones.</p><p>Natsu took advantage of the silence and lack of intense pain to ask, "Why are you the one doing this? The Black Jackals must have someone who would do this for me on payroll."</p><p>Sakusa looked over his mask at her, debating about whether or not to answer. It shocked her when he spoke.</p><p>"I wouldn't let that hack touch me with a ten foot pole. I simply assumed you wanted to keep your arm," he continued fiddling with the supplies he'd set out off to the side.</p><p>"Omi-kun," she drawled, resting her head on the back of the tub to grin up at him lazily, "do you feel bad for getting me shot?" Natsu was really starting to feel the tingle of the alcohol.</p><p>Sakusa scoffed, "I didn't push you in front of that bullet," his hands slowed, ghosting over the tools.</p><p>Natsu chuckled, "Just say thank you like a normal person and get it over with."</p><p>Grabbing at the needle and thread, Sakusa turned back to her arm with a pinched look on his face.</p><p>"I've got nothing to thank you for, if you hadn't knocked us off those stairs, I would've been able to shoot him before he shot us," he brought the needle down, piercing her skin and knotting the thread before pulling her wound closed.</p><p>Natsu was briefly distracted by just how practiced his movements looked, until his words processed.</p><p>"Well, if it's so clearly my fault, why not drop me off and let the 'hack' deal with me?"</p><p>His jaw clenched behind his mask, "I'll remember that for next time."</p><p>"Oh, there's a next time? I don't think so, buster. From now on, we're doing this my way since your way got me shot."</p><p>Sakusa finished the last stitch, pulling slightly harder than necessary before cutting the thread and using the gauze to wipe the blood from her arm.</p><p>"You're fucking impossible to work with, you know that?" Sakusa growled at her.</p><p>"Why do you think I tried so hard to get out of this partnership?"</p><p>Natsu's gaze caught on the way his hands hesitated while cleaning up the supplies and she narrowed her eyes.</p><p>"You thought I was trying to avoid you because of the other night, right?"</p><p>Sakusa's eyes flicked to hers and that was all the confirmation she need.</p><p>"Ok, two things. First of all, I'm what you would call a professional. Like something as petty as that could effect my job. Second of all," she cocked an eyebrow at him, "You really think you're so special that everyone you fuck is suddenly incapable of thinking about anything else?" Natsu blew a laugh and sat back, missing the confused look Sakusa threw her.</p><p>There was a beat of silence before Sakusa spoke, his voice so quiet she almost missed it, "You don't remember what happened?"</p><p>Natsu turned her head, propping it up against the back of the tub, she smiled bitterly, "Not all of it, but I remember enough to piece together the rest of it," she slowly tested out the movement of her arm, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset it happened, I'm just a little bummed I can't remember it."</p><p>She ignored his stare and slowly crawled out of the bloodstained tub, crinkling her nose at the feel of dried blood on her pants. With a sigh, she stepped out of them and shoved them into the bag with the rest of her clothes.</p><p>Sakusa still hadn't moved from his spot beside the tub. Natsu was about to ask what had crawled up his butt when he turned to her.</p><p>"We didn't have sex."</p><p>Her immediate reaction was a snort of laughter, but when his bottomless black eyes remain steadfast, she began to doubt.</p><p>"What do you mean we didn't have sex? I remember being all over you and you were definitely into it," he remained silent, "Well, I thought you were into it." Natsu felt her face flush as her doubts gave way to embarrassment. She was suddenly very much aware she was in the middle of the room, dressed in nothing but her underwear.</p><p>"I was," he whispered and her eyes flew to his only to find him looking down, suddenly very interested in the medical tools.</p><p>Natsu felt her face get even hotter, if it was possible. Why was she so flustered? It's not like she had ever been self conscious about her body, in fact, she had come to feel proud of the way she looked. And he definitely wasn't the first person to see her in such a state of undress, actually, there were plenty of people out there who had seen more.</p><p>She shifted, feeling that his confession had opened a can of worms. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Her voice, while soft, still managed to echo off the tiles.</p><p>"Are you still?"</p><p>Sakusa glanced up at her and Natsu watched the bob of his Adam's apple below his mask before he silently nodded.</p><p>Filled with new confidence, Natsu smiled as she slowly walked over to his seat on the counter beside the tub. Remembering earlier that day in the elevator, when he had flinched from her touch, she placed both hands a fair distance away from him on either side of his thighs.</p><p>Fighting through the strain on her fresh stitches, she leaned in to whisper, "Good to know."</p><p>Natsu felt him shrink back ever so slightly and she straightened up quickly, before he could reject her completely and kill her mood. She laughed quietly to herself as she walked to the oversized shower in the corner of the room, pulling her bra over her head and dropping along the way. No harm in giving him a little show.</p><p>Sakusa blinked and realized he was clenching his fists hard against his legs. Relaxing his hands, he pulled the dirty latex gloves of and replaced them with new ones again as he busied himself cleaning his supplies and the tub.</p><p>He cleaned his bathroom with bleach every few days, so the task of scrubbing out the dried blood was, weirdly enough, a mindless task. Unfortunately for him, it took so little brain power, he found his gaze wandering back to the opaque glass encasing the running shower and his thoughts circled around the woman currently in it.</p><p>Sakusa cursed himself as he wiped the sweat beading up on his forehead with the back of his wrist. Steam from the shower was starting to build up and it didn't help that he was hunched over the tub scrubbing it clean. Not to mention his mask was making it harder to breathe, so he took it off and carefully folded it before placing it in his pocket and continuing his work.</p><p>Finally done, he put away all his cleaning and medical supplies and left the room to find her a change of clothes. When he returned, he notice the water had been turned off, so he knocked on the door and waited until he heard her telling him to come in.</p><p>Natsu had a towel wrapped around her while her shoulder length hair, turned almost black by the water, clung to her neck. She was sitting on the marbled countertop, examining her stitches carefully in the mirror. She turned to face Sakusa as he walked in the door and she jumped off the counter.</p><p>"Oh thank god, I thought I was going to have to walk back home in a towel," she flicked through the folded clothes and looked back up at Sakusa. Tilting her head, she smiled, not unkindly, "I like seeing you without a mask."</p><p>Sakusa raised a hand to his face and realized he hadn't put his mask back on after he was done cleaning. Nor did he have on his gloves, which he had put in the pocket of his jaket before using the latex ones. Not that he normally wore them in his own house, but he also rarely let people in here to begin with.</p><p>He pointed to the pile of clothes, "There's nothing here in your size, so don't complain when nothing fits." Sakusa went to leave and was about to close the door behind him, but Natsu moved to grab the edge before he could shut it.</p><p>"Thank you, Sakusa," she hesitated, "I think I know what it means for you to let someone into your personal space like this, and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it and I don't take it for granted." He green eyes seemed to glow against her pale skin as the water from her hair slowly dripped onto her shoulders.</p><p>Sakusa didn't remember making the conscious decision to move, but he didn't care to stop himself as he reached out and followed a droplet of water with his bare finger as it crawled its way down the side of her neck and towards her collarbone. He watched as she shivered at the proximity of his touch, but didn't pull away. It encouraged him to push her wet hair back and dip his face down to hesitantly press his lips to hers.</p><p>With her good hand holding up the towel, all Natsu could do with her injured arm was raise it enough for her to grab onto the lower half of his shirt as he pushed against her, moving them out of the doorway.</p><p>This time, unlike the other times their lips had met, Sakusa was the one to deepen the kiss. His tongue grazed her lower lip and Natsu eagerly opened up to him. Their tongues met and he immediately pulled back. Natsu looked up, worried something happened when he quirked an eyebrow down at her.</p><p>"Did you use my mouthwash?"</p><p>Natsu bit her lip as she nodded, "I was just feeling kind of gross and didn't think you would miss a litt-," she was cut off as Sakusa resumed the kiss with more urgency, pushing her up against the counter and gently lifting her up to sit on the smooth marble.</p><p>Natsu felt hands tug lightly on her towel, silently asking her to drop it. She chuckled, breathless from the force and duration of the kiss as his mouth left hers in search of other places along her neck.</p><p>"I'm not about to be the only one here who's underdressed," she swore softly as his lips found a particularly sensitive piece of real estate along her collarbone.</p><p>"Take off that shirt of yours and we'll talk," she whispered in his ear.</p><p>Never letting his lips leave her skin, Sakusa expertly undid the buttons of his shirt and shrugged out of the dark fabric.</p><p>Natsu hummed, "That's more like it," before gladly dropping her towel and running her hand over the taut muscles in front of her and into his dark, curly hair, feeling the soft waves against her fingers.</p><p>Even with her body still wet from the shower, Natsu felt like she was on fire. Like she was in the middle of the desert and Sakusa was the only water for miles. Every gentle brush of his lips and caress of her body was like a soothing balm on a blister she hadn't known she had.</p><p>Sakusa towered over her, leaning her back until her skin touched the cold marble. Goosebumps prickled along her skin and were immediately soothed by a hot tongue and warm hands.</p><p>Natsu had never wished for the use of her injured arm more, because right now, she desperately wanted to feel more. She wanted to feel both of her hands to dive into his inky black hair as he suckled and nipped at her skin. She wanted to feel the tensing and relaxing of his body as he held himself over her. She wanted to feel just how bad he needed her.</p><p>Sakusa continued his trek down her body, noting several of her smaller scars along the way. He reached the ugly, jagged scar stretching horizontally across her lower abdomen and Natsu was worried for a brief moment that he would say something. But he ignored it, only offering a small kiss as he moved down.</p><p>Natsu grunted softly as he lifted her legs to hang over his shoulders, the movement jostling her arm. Sakusa turned his head to the side and kissed the inside of her thigh in an apology.</p><p>Nuzzling the skin on her thigh, he sighed softly, "You smell so fucking good."</p><p>"It's the body wash in there," Natsu laughed lightly, "Isn't that the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Omi-kun?"</p><p>His dark eyes flashed as he growled between her legs, "Don't call me that," and proceeded to bite down hard on the inside of her thigh.</p><p>Natsu's gasp of pain quickly morphed into a moan of pleasure as Sakusa's hands held her against his mouth, tongue soothing the abused section of skin. He trailed kisses the short length up her thigh and over her exposed center at the apex. With no warning, he flattened his tongue against her slit and licked one full length before closing his lips around her clit like he had directions to it, and aggressively swirled his tongue around it while sucking the ever loving shit out of it.</p><p>Natsu's back arched, pulling at her stitches, but she barely felt it. Her shouts echoed loudly in the cavernous room as her fingers gripped his hair, trying to pull his head up with her good hand, but he couldn't be stopped as he ground his face into her, leaving her almost no time to breathe. All she could see of his face was his pure black eyes and the twin beauty marks above them as his tongue flicked unseen over the small bundle of nerves.</p><p>Her legs kicked out against his shoulders in spasms as her orgasm took her by surprise and left her trembling in his hands. Sakusa didn't stop his attack on her clit until her whimpers of over stimulation filled the echoing room.</p><p>Finally releasing her, he rested his head against the inside of her thigh and chuckled, slightly out of breath himself, "I'd much rather hear you like this."</p><p>With a final kiss to her legs, Sakusa lowered them gently to hang off the counter before stepping back and going over to the sink to begin brushing his teeth and washing his face. Natsu sat up, a little shaky, but otherwise, not nearly done.</p><p>Sakusa finished drying his face and quirked an eyebrow at her in the mirror, "Something wrong?"</p><p>Natsu nodded, grabbing at his belt and going up on her tiptoes to murmur in his ear, "I want to make you feel good, too," she cupped her hand between his legs, briefly feeling the outline of his half hard cock before he moved away.</p><p>She pouted and he turned to face her, bending down to nuzzle the side of her neck. His hands pulled her hips against him and he breathed against her skin, "I'll let you do whatever you want, I just need to take a shower real quick."</p><p>Natsu hummed as her good hand rested on his lower back, "I wouldn't mind another shower," she chuckled as his teeth grazed her ear, "I'm even dressed for the occasion."</p><p>"You are," Sakusa agreed, but he hesitated before saying, "but I don't keep condoms down here, they're upstairs. You can wait up there if you want."</p><p>Natsu twisted her head to look at the face next to her, "Do you need it like you need your mask and gloves?"</p><p>Sakusa's mouth twisted to the side, "No, not really. I'm just not an idiot, pumping kids into every woman I fuck."</p><p>Natsu gave a small smile, "You don't need to worry about that with me. Turns out, I'm not an idiot either."</p><p>"I'm also not a fan of diseases."</p><p>Natsu reached up and flicked his forehead, making him pull back in surprise, "You must really think I'm an idiot if you think I don't get tested at least once a month. You forget how much blood I'm around for a living?"</p><p>She shoved at his chest and Sakusa let out a small chuckle as he pulled her back towards him, "I didn't mean anything by it, but I'm glad to hear that," his hands ran the length of her back before falling back to the tops of her hips, "Is your offer still on the table?"</p><p>Natsu huffed, trying hard not to let his quick nips at her neck dull her irritation. Trying and failing.</p><p>She sighed, "Yes, you piece of shit," she pushed away and headed for the shower, "Now hurry up and get naked before I change my mind."</p><p>Turning the water on and closing her eyes against the splash of the water, Natsu lost herself for the second time today in the stream of the waterfall shower head. The water fell straight down from the ceiling and felt to her like rain. With her eyes closed and her ears filled with the sound of rushing water, Natsu didn't notice Sakusa joining her until his chest hit her back and his hands rested in the dip of her waist.</p><p>Keeping her eyes closed, she hummed as she felt his lips brush against the back of her neck and across the top of her shoulder. Wiping the water from her eyes, Natsu turned to look up at him as his raven hair clung to his forehead. Her hand traveled down the firm landscape of his torso, slowly inching lower as she asked him, "Feeling better?"</p><p>Sakusa nodded as he ran a hand over her arms, pausing on the stitches in her shoulder.</p><p>"Don't make me redo my stitches," he murmured.</p><p>Natsu chuckled as she leaned in to place open mouth kisses on his chest, "Aw, it's so sweet you're worried about me, Omi-kun." She sucked in a breath as his hands pulled at her hair, angling her to look up at him.</p><p>"I told you not to call me that. Not that. And not here," his voice was low and his eyes were sharp.</p><p>Natsu smiled innocently, her hands trailing lower, now at the dip in his lean hips.</p><p>She asked sweetly, "What should I call you then?" She brushed his hands off her hair and leaned in to trail more kisses down his chest, joining her hands at the top of his hips. Tilting her head to watch his expression, she lightly licked the tip of his cock.</p><p>Sakusa let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding as he felt her tongue place small kitten licks along his twitching cock.</p><p>Managing a smirk, he looked down, "You're not calling me anything with my dick in your mouth," he shuddered as she placed an open mouth kiss on the underside of the head.</p><p>Natsu huffed a laugh, "God, you're so lewd. It's fucking hot," with no more warning, she opened her mouth and pushed most of his cock into her mouth and down her throat, swallowing around it.</p><p>"Fuck," Sakusa swore, his hands flying to her wet hair, holding her in place as he lightly thrust his cock down her throat. Pulling her off, he looked down at her pale green eyes, swimming with tears and her mouth hanging open with a small string of saliva running down her chin.</p><p>"You're such a fucking mess," he murmured before fitting himself back in the warm wetness of her mouth. Her tongue brushed against the underside of his cock as he felt her throat close around him, dragging him towards the finish line.</p><p>Vibrations from her throat made him shudder again as he released a soft moan into the echoing space, swallowed up by the sound of the water.</p><p>"Shit, fu-, Natsu, I'm clo-," another noise, deep in her throat made his hips stutter, but Natsu moved to pick up the slack, bringing him up and over the edge as he gripped her hair and jerked his hips forward in a faltering rhythm.</p><p>Panting through his orgasm, Sakusa looked down to see Natsu grinning up at him. He quirked an eyebrow at her and opened his mouth to ask what she was smile at when he sucked in a breath and grasped at the slick walls to keep himself from falling to his knees.</p><p>With his dick still in her mouth, Natsu hollowed out her checks and continued to move up and down his length at a slower pace. His fingers twisted in her hair as he tried to pull her off.</p><p>"Very funn- ah, fuck, Natsu give it a fucking minu- ngh," he nearly cracked his head against the wall behind him as he threw his head back and his hips jerked at the stimulation.</p><p>With a small, wet pop, Natsu released his cock and grinned up at him again. She rose to her feet and just barely registered the flash of black eyes before her chest was being pushed against the cold tile wall.</p><p>"You think you're fucking cute, huh?" Sakusa's voice hummed in her ear. His chest was pressed so tight against her back she felt like she could feel the thrum of his words down her spine.</p><p>She grinned again, but this time at the white tile wall as she answered, "I'm goddamn adorable. What's the matter, Omi-kun, you can dish it out, but can't take it?"</p><p>The pressure from his chest disappeared and she opened her mouth to laugh and say something else when his hand snaked down her stomach and pinched her clit between his fingers. Not rub, not nudge. Pinch. She jerked her hips back trying to get away from the feeling when another hand slid into her slit from behind. Pressing her forehead into the cold tile, she swore and shot Sakusa a glare from where he was standing beside her, keeping her in place.</p><p>His voice was back to being clear and level, "I told you not to call me that."</p><p>Another finger slid into her and she found herself grinding into it. The pressure lessened on her clit, but not by much as his fingers flattened and rubbed against it. She jerked her hips, following his lead as his fingers slid in and out of her.</p><p>"Fuck you," she managed to gasp out, "Why don't you tell me what, -ah fuck, ha- you want me to -ngh, call you, then?" Her legs threatening to give out from under her as she barely held herself up on the wall with her one good hand.</p><p>Sakusa responded by flipping her around and pushing her back against the wall, making her gasp. Pulling one leg to wrap around his waist, he easily lifted the other up and held her against the wall.</p><p>Natsu gave a short breathless laugh as she clung to his shoulders, ignoring the dull throb of her injury, "If you drop me, I will kill you."</p><p>"You're more than welcome to try," Sakusa murmured, grinding his now erect dick against her.</p><p>"Sakusa, please remember who you're talking to," Natsu lost her train of thought as she felt him slowly pressing into her entrance. Leaning her head back against the tile, she let out a soft moan until his hips pressed into hers, unable to go any further.</p><p>Sakusa stilled, one hand on her hip and the other supporting one of her legs, he leaned into her and hummed against her ear.</p><p>"Kiyoomi, call me Kiyoomi."</p><p>Natsu didn't get a chance to respond before he pulled out and slammed back into her, nearly knocking her breath from her lungs. She swore and her voice careened ruthlessly around the room as Sakusa continued his relentless pace, adjusting his grip to provide more leverage and angle himself deeper.</p><p>"Fuck," Sakusa panted, "You feel so fucking tight." His grip on her tightened, sure to leave small bruises on her pale skin.</p><p>Natsu scramble to hold onto his shoulders as he bounced her on his cock. Her back slid along the cold tile as she felt herself tighten around him as he continued pushing and pulling at her walls.</p><p>Natsu dug her fingers into his wet hair as she gasped out, "Don’t stop -ngh, please, Kiyoomi."</p><p>Sakusa groaned softly in her ear, his name sounded so good echoing around the room like this.</p><p>"Fuck, Kiyoomi -ah fuck!" Natsu arched her back against the wet tiles, feeling him push through her orgasm as her walls pulsated around him.</p><p>Her voice, along with the vice grip on his dick, sent Sakusa falling completely over the edge as he emptied himself inside her.</p><p>Leaning his forehead against the wall for support, he slowly let her legs slip off his hips as they both stood against the wall to catch their breaths.</p><p>Sakusa brought a hand to examine her stitches, touching them lightly, "I have bandages in the kitchen to finish wrapping this."</p><p>Natsu nodded, humming contently as she stepped back into the fall of the water to begin washing herself off.</p><p>She winked at Sakusa as he continued leaning against the wall, watching her, "I really thought you were going to drop me for a while there." She chuckled softly as she washed away his fluid from between her legs.</p><p>Sakusa scoffed, "I wouldn't have done it if I thought I was going to drop you."</p><p>"Glad to know you're a sourpuss whether you get laid or not," Natsu danced out of the way as he flung a shampoo bottle at her.</p><p>Sticking out her tongue, she slipped out of the shower, leaving him to clean himself up as she dried off and pulled on the clothes he had brought her earlier.</p><p>Natsu picked at the loose t-shirt and basketball shorts as she moved through the house, curious to see what the inside of Sakusa's place looked like.</p><p>Nothing she found surprised her as she moved through the downstairs. The furniture was minimalistic, mostly in black and white. There were accents of gold throughout the place, which made sense when she remembered black and gold were the colors for the Black Jackals.</p><p>Another thing she noticed was that it was exceptionally clean throughout the whole house. Nothing like a clean freak to make you feel inferior.</p><p>Natsu picked her way through each room methodically, looking for anything to tell her more about what kind of person she had just slept with. It should have worried her more than it did that in total, she hadn't really spent that long with the Jackal and yet here she was, roaming his house and freshly fucked. She sighed at herself, as she absentmindedly picked up a small paring knife from the kitchen. Twirling it in her hands, she wandered through the rest of the first floor.</p><p>Coming across the stairs leading to the second floor, she paused, putting the cold steel of the knife to her lips as she considered going up.</p><p>A small noise behind her made her jump and lunge at the sound, knocking the large body she came in contact with to the ground with her knife pressed to their neck.</p><p>Hands gripped her wrist and she blinked. Wet, black hair swam into focus and she looked down to see that it was Sakusa's neck beneath the blade in her hand.</p><p>"I didn't think my performance was so bad it warranted this," his eyebrows quirked up, but his eyes watched her carefully for any signs that she was about to follow through.</p><p>Natsu pulled back, wrenching her wrist from his grasp as she stumbled back into the bathroom and slammed the door. Sliding down the wall beside the door, Natsu put her head between her knees as she tried to remember how to breathe.</p><p>She wasn't in danger, she knew that. Her brain knew she was safe, but her body was convinced there was something to fear. Her muscles twitched with the need to move, to fight. It didn't care that there was nothing but herself to war against. Her lungs and heart clambered around inside her chest as her vision began to blur around the edges.</p><p>Natsu swallowed and closed her eyes as she placed a hand over her chest to concentrate on counting her heartbeats. At first, she was counting them quickly, like she always did, and then, over time, both her count and her heart rate slowed down.</p><p>Her arms and legs stopped trembling and sagged with exhaustion. She waited a few more minutes to be sure her body was ok to move before standing up and going to the sink to splash cold water on her face.</p><p>She started down at the marble counter, absentmindedly massaging her aching shoulder, feeling the burn from where she had nearly pulled the stitches out.</p><p>It had been a long time since she had spiraled out like that. What had even brought it on this time? Sakusa walking around his own house? She blew out a breath, hating that another person had seen her like that. No one but her brother had ever seen her melt down and the fact that Sakusa had, put her on edge.</p><p>Her nerves felt frayed and exposed, but she had no choice except to go back out there and hope he didn't say anything about it. She glanced up in the mirror, making sure she looked at least decent before pushing herself up and out the door.</p><p>Sakusa glance up from the island in the kitchen and watched as Natsu breezed back into the room, looking like she didn't have a care in the world. His eyes followed her as she leaned casually on the counter flicking the knife in her hand expertly.</p><p>"You going to finish patching me up, or what?" Her voice cut across the room, not quite matching her body language as she gestured to the bandages in front of him.</p><p>Sakusa huffed, noticing the small bloodstain blooming on her shoulder from where she had overexerted herself knocking him down earlier.</p><p>"You should at least pretend to be grateful for my help."</p><p>Natsu swung around and hopped up on the counter, "I just sucked and fucked you in the shower and you have the nerve to call me ungrateful?" She chuckled as she lifted her sleeve to allow his access to the wound.</p><p>Sakusa's hand twitched as he pursed his lips and started cleaning and wrapping her arm. He was quiet for so long, Natsu thought he was ignoring her as usual until he spoke, "I didn't do this for any kind of repayment," he finished the knot, tying it tight to keep pressure on the wound as Natsu looked over at him, "especially not something like that."</p><p>Natsu blinked as Sakusa turned to take off his gloves and stow the rest of the first aid kit. Did she offend him? She didn't think he cared enough about anything to get offended.</p><p>"I was just kidding, you know," she slid off the counter with a cocky grin on her face and a hand on her hip, "Do I look like someone who needs to sleep with people just to say thank you?"</p><p>Sakusa leaned back on the counter and shrugged, "You don't look like the type of person to get panic attacks either, and yet we both know that's not true."</p><p>Natsu's hand clenched harder on the knife as she snarled, "I didn't realize you had to look a certain way to be allowed to have panic attacks," she slung the knife across the counter as she turned to stomp towards the bathroom.</p><p>When she came out, having collected all her weapons, she saw Sakusa still hadn't moved from his spot in the kitchen, so she raised her voice to make sure he heard her, "And fuck you for getting me shot!"</p><p>With that, she turned to open the front door and leave when she heard voices on the other side. Right before they banged on the door.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As of the last time I checked, I got two whole kudos! Yay me! Haha. And just like I promised (myself) I would continue to update as long as people liked it, so here we are.</p><p>Also, I'm thinking of uploading each chapter (I still only have 8 complete ones) every Friday or Saturday, so look out for that.</p><p>One thing I should note: Always practice safe sex, kids! (Not like KIDs kids, but you know what I mean) also, communication is SUPER important for the sexy times and that's why I had them talking throughout. Sorry if that ruined it for you, but it's very important to me.</p><p>Again, thank you guys so much for reading, everything you do is appreciated</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Contracts and Confessions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry, it's late, but this time we get a smidge of IwaOi! How great is that?</p><p>Not that great? I still suck for being late?</p><p>*tears*</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Sakusa? Hey, it's us. Meian sent us to make sure you're ok," Natsu was able to easily recognize Bokuto's voice and assumed Hinata was the 'us' he was referring to. She looked back to see Sakusa cursing under his breath and moving to the door.</p><p>Natsu shuffled out of the way as he cracked the door to lazily answer, "I'm fine. Stop banging on my door like a child."</p><p>Next was Hinata's voice, "Meian-san said you texted him for a clean up, but then he never heard back about a debrief. Are you sure you're ok? It's really not like you to not follow through."</p><p>"Yeah and we thought we heard yelling a second ago."</p><p>Natsu suppressed a laugh as she leaned against the wall facing Sakusa. He shot her a glare before turning back to the pair outside, "Tell Meian I'm fine. I'll message him in a minute to explain the situation," Sakusa moved to close the door when Bokuto spoke up, stopping him.</p><p>"You know that's not good enough for Meian."</p><p>Natsu saw half of an unspoken conversation in Sakusa's eyes before he sighed and pushed the door open the rest of the way.</p><p>Both Bokuto and Hinata blinked, not unlike a deer caught in headlights, at the sight of Natsu in what looked like Sakusa's clothes standing there with her weapon harnesses slung over her shoulder.</p><p>She lifted her good arm and gave them a mock salute, "I don't suppose I could trouble you boys for a ride, can I?"</p><p>Neither one of them spoke, apparently still processing whatever it was that shocked them so bad.</p><p>Natsu shrugged as she jammed her shoes on and walked out the door, pointedly ignoring Sakusa as he held it open for her.</p><p>"Close your mouths, you look like idiots," she said as she patted the both of them on the shoulder, subtly pushing them out of the doorway and towards the street. A dark colored SUV was parked just outside and she had to assume it was theirs.</p><p>Climbing in the back, Natsu looked out the tinted window as they mumbled their goodbyes to Sakusa and headed for the car. She watched as Sakusa stood in the doorway, face unreadable as he watched them leave.</p><p>Natsu sat back as Bokuto drove away, throwing her odd glances from the driver's seat mirroring Hinata's beside him.</p><p>Unable to stand the awkward silence anymore, Natsu sighed, "For the love of god, just say whatever is on your minds."</p><p>Bokuto and Hinata shared a look before the smaller man turned in his seat to look at her, "So he just let you in his house?"</p><p>Ok, not the direction she thought this was going, but definitely starting off with an easy question.</p><p>"Yeah, it was kind of an emergency," she lifted her sleeve to show him the bandage on her arm, "Don't worry though, I seriously doubt he'll make that mistake again," she scoffed and let her sleeve fall back down.</p><p>Instead of clearing things up, the bandage seemed to only shock and confuse them further. Bokuto whipped his head around, facing away from the traffic to turn to her as well, looking aghast as he marveled, "You were bleeding?"</p><p>Natsu gripped her seat as she yelled, "Would you watch the road?!"</p><p>Bokuto's face pulled into a pout, but he turned back around and Natsu relaxed slightly in her seat.</p><p>"I got shot while we were taking care of a guy on the list," she paused and Hinata waved a hand, urging her to continue and she shrugged, "Sakusa had a lead on one, we went to handle it, and as we were leaving some dude came out of nowhere, spraying bullets everywhere and I just so happened to catch one of them with my shoulder," Natsu massaged the damaged appendage, looking out the window.</p><p>Hinata was still staring at her, "But why not take you to our doc?"</p><p>Natsu threw up a hand, "That's what I said! Apparently, he's got something against the guy and decided he didn't want to deal with him."</p><p>Hinata tsked, "Yeah, he does hate Doc a lot for some reason," he tilted his head back to her, "I didn't think he hated him so much that he'd rather deal with all that blood though."</p><p>Natsu furrowed her brow, "He didn't seem that bothered by it," but now she thought about it, he did change his gloves out quite a lot and was constantly wiping her arm off. Not to mention how the whole bathroom smelled like bleach when she got out of the shower. Maybe it bothered him more than she thought.</p><p>She frowned down at her hands. What was this? Was she feeling guilty? Natsu shook her head. No, it was his fault she got shot in the first place. All he had to do was listen to her, but no, he wanted to act all high and mighty. He deserved it.</p><p>Even as she thought it, it still didn't sit right with her, but instead of examining it further, she shrugged at Hinata, who was still watching her, "You'd have to ask him about it."</p><p>Hinata shifted in his seat and Natsu watched him glance over at Bokuto, who was pointing to his hair and looking back at him. Hinata nodded before turning back to her with a slightly bashful look on his face.</p><p>"So," Hinata started slowly, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the chair, "we couldn't help but notice how it looked like you both had showered recently." Hinata looked over at Bokuto who glanced at her in his rear view mirror and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.</p><p>Natsu narrowed her eyes at them both, "And?"</p><p>"And," this time Bokuto continued facing forward, but didn't take his eyes off her in the mirror, "showers aren't standard care for gunshots, last I checked."</p><p>Natsu snorted, "That depends on how much blood there was, doesn't it?" Something that really grinded her gears was when people just couldn't come out and say what they meant. Last she checked, everyone here was an adult, perfectly capable of speaking their mind. It gave her immense pleasure to deny them any answers until they asked plainly, like grown-ups.</p><p>Bokuto raised an eyebrow, "You don't look like you lost that much blood."</p><p>"You don't look smart enough to drive a car, yet here we are," she snapped back at him.</p><p>Bokuto's golden eyes narrowed at her and he opened his mouth to say something when Hinata cut him off.</p><p>"We're sorry, it's really none of our business," he gave a meaningful look to Bokuto.</p><p>Bokuto turned to him, "Seeing as how she makes a living killing people, I would like to think it <em>is</em> our business."</p><p>Natsu leaned forward to be included in the conversation about her, "I make a living killing people <em>you guys</em> tell me to kill," she sat back, crossing her arms over her chest, "I don't do that shit for free."</p><p>Hinata's leg started to bounce, "I think we can all agree we don't need to worry about Sakusa-san."</p><p>Natsu smiled and nodded, "He's got nothing to worry about, as long as he doesn't get me shot again."</p><p>Bokuto tried to contain a smile as he turned back to the road, "I'll be sure to tell him next time I see him."</p><p>"Stop bouncing your leg like that, it's making me nervous," she snapped at Hinata, who huffed a breath as he sat back in his seat.</p><p>Bokuto barked a laugh at the smaller man and Hinata turned to flip him off. Bokuto ignored him as he continued driving, listening to Natsu as she gave him directions.</p><p>The car settled into a comfortable silence as they drove through the city, narrowly missing parked cars and pedestrians. Natsu was almost convinced he was doing it on purpose, because there's no way someone could have this many close calls in one trip.</p><p>"Gods, please let me out here," Natsu begged.</p><p>"Sure thing, just point out your house."</p><p>She shook her head, "Nah, it's fine, just pull over here and I'll walk," Natsu saw the look on his face, "It's not far, I promise."</p><p>Hinata turned around, "We would like to let you walk, but Meian-san explicitly told us to make sure you made it home ok once we told him what happened."</p><p>Natsu rolled her eyes, "How about we just pretend you walked me to my door?"</p><p>Both of them shook their heads at her and she sighed, "I can't convince you guys to let me out? Come on, if you guys see were I live, I'm going to have to move once my contract is up and I really like this place," Natsu hated asking for a favor like this, but she really didn't want to move.</p><p>At least Hinata looked like he felt bad, but Bokuto remained firm, "We do what Meian says, and he says to get you home safe."</p><p>Natsu rested her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes, trying to find a way out of this, short of tumbling from a slow moving car.</p><p>"Fine," she pointed out the house on the corner and Bokuto pulled over to let her out.</p><p>Natsu waved goodbye as she slipped into her house, grateful to finally be alone. She kicked off her shoes, eager to change into her own clothes and get some rest. It was desperately needed after today.</p><p>******</p><p>Weeks passed and eventually, they settled into an uneasy rhythm as they worked their way down the list. Sakusa would provide a distraction through intimidation while she moved in for the kill.</p><p>Natsu's injury slowly healed, which was good, because the more people from the list they killed, the harder it became. Word spreads fast in underground circles and whatever group this was took notice and had taken to ground. The last couple people they had targeted had been surrounded by bodyguards, armed to the teeth. Sakusa's intimidation did them no good, so Natsu was glad to have at least most of her mobility back.</p><p>Most days, there was nothing to report. They would drive around in Sakusa's car, trying to chase down leads all over Tokyo.</p><p>Natsu would frequently asked after Atsumu, bummed that the one person who had looked like the most fun had dipped before she got to know him. Every time she brought him up though, Sakusa would give her nothing but an eye roll above his mask. It frustrated her to no end, but he seemed just as put out by it as she did.</p><p>Neither one of them brought up what Natsu liked to think of it as 'the incident'. Natsu wouldn't have minded another 'incident', but she understood the need for professionalism. It was actually a relief to note that even with things left unsaid, they still worked seamlessly together.</p><p>Bokuto and Hinata took it upon themselves to include Natsu in their frequent outings. She was more than happy to tag along, glad that not all the Black Jackals were a bunch of sticks in the mud. Part of her genuinely enjoyed their company, but another part of her was curious. She wanted to know more about how these two came to be in this line of work.</p><p>With Bokuto, it was more obvious. The man was a walking, talking powerhouse. Sometimes when they were out drinking, Natsu would forget just how goddamn big he was, only to be reminded when they stood up to say their goodbyes. He would clap Natsu on the shoulder and, if she wasn't braced for it, the force would nearly knock her knees out. Either he was unaware of just how strong he was, or he honestly didn't care. Neither choice comforted Natsu.</p><p>It took her a long time to come to terms with the fact the Hinata wasn't what he seemed. When she had first met him, he came across as bright, respectful, and honest. He was still all those things, but underneath all that, ran a rather dark streak. Natsu had only caught a glimpse of it at a bar.</p><p>As usual, the three of them were about three rounds in, when it happened. Natsu didn't see what caught Hinata's attention, but she did see his face cloud over like a switch had been flipped.</p><p>He jumped down from the bar and stalked towards a man with two drinks in his hands. Natsu strained to hear what Hinata said to the man, but she couldn't make anything out over the music and the rumble of conversation. But she did see Hinata, crushing the back of the guy's neck as he forcefully bent him down to speak with him.</p><p>Natsu watched with fascination as all the blood drained from the guy's face and his mouth started moving in stuttering formations. His beady eyes darted around the room, presumably looking for someone to save him.</p><p>When Hinata was done talking, the guy looked about ready to pass out. He started to shake his head, but Hinata gripped the back of his neck harder, making him wince. Hinata nodded to the drinks in the man's hands and Natsu watched as the guy brought first one of the drinks and then the other to his lips and drained them.</p><p>After both drinks were gone, Hinata's face cleared and he beamed at the man while he clapped him on the back. When the smaller man rejoined the others, Natsu asked what happened. Hinata brightly told her that he had seen the guy slip something into one of the drinks.</p><p>Natsu's eyebrows raised, but Hinata just grinned wider as he told her how he had offered the man a choice. Either drink both drinks now and go home, never to darken this bar again, or wake up in the hospital missing a few appendages.</p><p>Hinata winked as he said, "I let him draw his own conclusions about which appendages would be missing, but I think he guessed right."</p><p>Natsu bought him his next several drinks after that.</p><p>******</p><p>After one particularly harsh day, riding around with an equally irate Sakusa was like salt in a wound. Neither helpful nor pleasant.</p><p>Natsu got out and slammed the car door, grumbling under her breath as she stalked to her house.</p><p>Fighting the urge to also slam her front door, she kicked off her shoes and froze in her tracks. A feeling of dread pooled in her stomach and she cocked her head at the seemingly empty house. No sounds reached her ears, but her arms broke out in goosebumps all the same.</p><p>Slowly pulling her knives out, she moved silently through the darkened house. She learned a long time ago to trust her instincts and today, they were pretty hard to ignore.</p><p>Her eyes were barely adjusting to the lack of light as she moved through the living room and heard a faint rustle of clothing behind her. Spinning around, she brought her hands up only to have her wrist be grabbed and twisted as it was pulled behind her.</p><p>Natsu jerked her other elbow up and back, hearing a grunt as she connected with the side of someone's head. The hands released her arm and she spun around to grip onto the short spiky hair of her assailant, laying her knife across his neck.</p><p>Natsu opened her mouth to ask who he was, but didn't get a chance to utter anything. The silhouette kicked out at her knees while gripping her shoulders and slammed her down onto the floor. Natsu struggled to pull air back into her lungs as the figure took the opportunity to knock the knife from her hand and pin her down.</p><p>She attempted to buck her hips, but the man above her was perfectly balanced with his knees on either side of her hips and strong hands holding her wrists to the ground out beside her. Natsu grunted and renewed her attempts to escape, slamming her head up and into the face above her.</p><p>Her attacker's head snapped back and his hands released her wrists in surprise. Taking advantage, Natsu pulled her gun from her harness and leveled it dead center at the mass in front of her.</p><p>"Don't fucking move," she growled.</p><p>The figure above her held his hands wide in surrender, "You've lost your edge, Natsu-chan. I don't remember you going down so easy before."</p><p>Natsu strained to get a better look at the stranger's face in the darkness and just then, it hit her.</p><p>"Iwaizumi? Is that you?"</p><p>The lights turned on and Natsu blinked at the sudden brightness.</p><p>"Now, now, there's no need for guns, sweet sister," an all too familiar voice, dripping with artificial sweetness came from the corner.</p><p>Natsu stared in disbelief at her younger brother, propped up against the wall beside the light switch. Of course he would be the dramatic one.</p><p>After lowering her gun and placing it back in the harness, Iwaizumi pushed himself up and held out a hand to help Natsu up. She ignored it and sat up.</p><p>"What do you want, Oikawa?" There were plenty of other questions, but this was the most pressing one she could think of.</p><p>A slim hand pressed to his chest in a show of hurt as he lamented, "Is that any way to talk to your beloved brother? You seem to forget, you're an Oikawa too, big sis," his brown eyes flicked over her, making her remember just how observant he was.</p><p>"Technically," Natsu reluctantly conceded, "What are you doing here?"</p><p>"I can't visit my sister without some kind of agenda?" His smirk undercut the sentiment in his words.</p><p>"No, you can't," she turned to the shorter, but broader man beside her brother, "Iwaizumi, what's this about?"</p><p>Never one to beat around the bush, the raven answered, "They want you back."</p><p>"Iwa-chan! You promised not to say anything!" Delicate lips pulled into a pout as he shot a glare at the man beside him.</p><p>Iwaizumi shrugged, "And you promised to be quick about it. I don't get paid by the hour, you know."</p><p>Natsu grinned at Iwaizumi, glad he had managed to stay by her brother's side all these years. Tooru needed someone to dull his sharp tongue and no one fit that bill more than Iwaizumi Hajime.</p><p>Her smile was short lived as she processed Iwaizumi's words, "You mean Dad wants me back."</p><p>It was only because she had known Tooru his whole life that she caught the small downturn of his mouth and the brief flash of his eyes before he smiled back at her.</p><p>"Father is getting up there in age, sweet Natsu. He just wants his only daughter back home ."</p><p>"How are you even here? Do you realize who I work for now?" Natsu ignored his statement.</p><p>Tooru nodded, "I've already spoken with Meian and he gave us his blessing for this little family get-together."</p><p>"How did you even find me?"</p><p>"A little birdie told me," Tooru smirked as he gracefully moved from the wall to take a seat, placing his ankle on his knee as he squinted at her.</p><p>Natsu ran her fingers through her braid as she sighed. It had been a really long day and she wasn't prepared for the verbal battle with her brother. Taking a seat across from him, she gestured for him to get on with it.</p><p>"Father's getting rather desperate to have you back. We were instructed to remove any obstacles preventing that."</p><p>"I've just been entered into a new contract. Even Father's smart enough not to go against DateKo and drag me back."</p><p>Her brother tutted, "Except he's not going against DateKo."</p><p>Worry pooled in Natsu's stomach at the tone in his voice, "What do you mean?"</p><p>Tooru spread his arms wide, "He's buying your freedom from DateKo completely. No more contracts, no nothing. Isn't that great news? You'll be free to come home."</p><p>"That's impossible, you can't just <em>buy</em> your way out of the company, that's not how this works." She was sure it couldn't be done, but her brother's face gave her pause and doubts slid into the back of her mind.</p><p>"You can't do that!" Natsu exclaimed.</p><p>"Father has been in contact with DateKo and is currently working out the details of your release," Tooru's voice was calm, in stark contrast to his sister's.</p><p>Natsu stood up, unable to keep still as she fumed, "Even if you bought me out, I would still never go back there. You can't make me change my mind just by destroying my career like that."</p><p>Tooru's brown eyes saddened, "I told you, Father is desperate to have you back," he paused and glanced over at Iwaizumi, who placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort, "There's talk of using Takeru to force you to come back," Tooru said softly.</p><p>Natsu stopped her pacing as her veins filled with cold fury, "I left him with you to protect him. So tell me exactly what you mean when you say that," each word burned in her throat as her voice cracked across the room, making the pair across the table flinch.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Natsu. The bigger he gets, the harder it is to claim he's mine," Tooru tried to explain, "Father's old, but he's not senile. He has his suspicions."</p><p>Iwaizumi nodded beside him, "We tried, Natsu-chan, we really did."</p><p>Natsu gripped the back of her chair to keep from collapsing. No, no, no, not this. Not Takeru. Not after everything she went through just to bring him into this world and keep him safe.</p><p>"Bring him to me and I'll look after him. Get him away from that place," her voice shook and she gripped the chair harder.</p><p>Tooru shook his head sympathetically and Natsu almost launched the chair at him.</p><p>"I could, but you know Father would spare no expense finding him wherever I send him. He's just a child, Natsu. He shouldn't spend his life in hiding," Tooru's voice dipped down to plead with her, "Please just come home. Come home and we can make sure he's safe."</p><p>Natsu's lip curled as she spat, "I wouldn't need to come home if I had left Takeru with people who could actually protect him." It was unfair of her to blame this on them. Natsu knew that and she hated herself for even thinking it. With no one there to blame, but herself, she decided to share the misery.</p><p>Tooru flinched slightly as her words hit him and he clenched his hands in his lap.</p><p>There wasn't anything he could say to make her feel better, because she was right. He had failed as his nephew's protector.</p><p>Tooru despised himself for accepting this job. To basically come out here and threaten her. He had convinced himself it was because she would probably take the news better if it came from him. But if he was being honest with himself, it was because he was weak. He had come to look in her eyes and beg forgiveness for failing in the task she had given him all those years ago.</p><p>Both Tooru and Iwaizumi had put everything they had into shielding Takeru and it still wasn't enough to save him from Father's scrutiny. Tooru looked down at his clasped hands and reminded himself -as he so often did these days- that he had failed because he was simply not enough. He never was.</p><p>Natsu knew she had been too harsh when Tooru went quiet. Knowing her brother as well as she did, she knew whenever he stopped speaking out loud, his inner voice was screaming at him. Natsu was never sure what it was that made his face cloud over like that, but she knew it was nothing good.</p><p>Iwaizumi rested a light touch on Tooru's elbow, trying to pull him from his own thoughts and ground him. Wide brown eyes met dark olive ones and Iwaizumi wished he could find a way to clear the self doubt that marred such a wondrous face. Even after all these years, it still ate at him to watch his partner's boundless confidence take a backseat to his equally matched self-doubt.</p><p>Releasing the chair in front of her, Natsu came around and kneeled in front of her brother, who turned from Iwaizumi to face her.</p><p>Taking his hands in hers, she murmured, "I'm so sorry, Tooru. I was angry, I didn't mean it. It's my fault for not being there for you guys."</p><p>"Does that mean you'll come back?"</p><p>"Tooru," Natsu mumbled.</p><p>Iwaizumi interrupted, voice calm and soothing, "Will you at least consider it? Takeru is like family to me and as much as it pains me to say this, we're not enough to keep him safe anymore."</p><p>Natsu drew a deep breath and relented, "I'll think about it, Iwaizumi."</p><p>The ravenette nodded as he looked to the brunette beside him, "Let's give her some time to think."</p><p>Natsu's heart squeezed at the tenderness in his voice when he spoke to Tooru. Iwaizumi was way too good for her brother.</p><p>Big chestnut eyes looked at Iwaizumi like they were having an unspoken conversation, before looking at Natsu, "We'll be staying in town, waiting on your decision." He appeared to have regained most of the composure he had let slip earlier.</p><p>Natsu nodded and they all stood to walk to the door. Iwaizumi ducked out first to go bring the car from around the corner where they had hid it. Tooru stayed behind, waiting until the raven hair was out of sight before turning to Natsu.</p><p>"Iwa-chan would never let me say this to you because he doesn't want you to worry, but Takeru isn't the only one in danger if you don't come home."</p><p>Natsu furrowed her brow, "What do you mean? Who?"</p><p>Tooru glanced back at the road and hissed, "Both of us have been standing in Father's way of Takeru," he pointed a finger at his chest, "I am virtually untouchable being his son, but you know who isn't untouchable?"</p><p>"Iwaizumi," Natsu whispered as she realized her brother was right.</p><p>"Exactly," he stared at her, eyes wide as he became more serious than Natsu had ever seen him, "If that man gets hurt because of you, Natsu," he leaned down to look her in the eyes, "I will never forgive you."</p><p>Natsu nodded, not doubting his words for one second. She saw the car approaching from around the corner and sighed.</p><p>"You say that like I could ever forgive myself."</p><p>Tooru's face softened as he pulled his sister into a half hug. His mouth opened as if to say something, but instead, he shook his head and turned to walk over to the car.</p><p>"Get a move on Shittykawa, we've been on the road all day and I need a break from you," a voice called out through the open car window.</p><p>Tooru leaned down, "It's not my fault you drive like an old lady. Who does the speed limit on the highway?"</p><p>"Get your ass in here before I leave you and make you walk to the hotel."</p><p>"Iwa-chan, you're so mean to me!"</p><p>Natsu watched the banter from her doorway and smiled as she walked back into her house. Her smile faded as the weight of the day and what just happened came crashing down around her.</p><p>As much as she wanted to sink into a deep sleep right there on the couch, she knew she needed to talk with Meian.</p><p>Natsu picked her phone from her pocket and dialed Sakusa's number.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Did he really just drop her off only an hour ago? It felt like it was so much longer than that.</p><p>"So you remember how you just dropped me off? Well, Omi-kun, I need you to pick me back up and take me to Meian."</p><p>"I'm not a fucking taxi service."</p><p>"Good, you'd be a shitty one. I'd figure out a way to give you negative stars if I could."</p><p>"You're not making me want to pick you up."</p><p>"How about this? I just came home to my brother waiting for me in my house."</p><p>There were several seconds of silence on the phone and Natsu had to check the screen to make sure he was till there.</p><p>Eventually, he answered, "Fine. I'm on my way."</p><p>Natsu smiled and dropped her phone back in her pocket. When it was time for him to show up, she picked herself up off the couch to wait by the door until she saw his car outside.</p><p>Pulling the door closed, Natsu looked over at Sakusa, still dressed in the same dark blue jacket with matching pants and a crisp white shirt. At least he hadn't had time to change before she called him.</p><p>The car didn't move.</p><p>"What?" Natsu snapped.</p><p>"Are you going to tell me why I'm back here or not?"</p><p>"Not," Natsu looked out the window, but when the car still didn't start moving, she glared at Sakusa, "I don't feel like repeating myself, so you're just going to have to wait until we talk to Meian."</p><p>His black eyes narrowed at her over his mask and he didn't speak for a while. It didn't bother Natsu though, she simply leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. Feeling the car pull onto the street, she smiled to herself.</p><p>The rest of the ride was quiet as Sakusa drove through the city and parked in the familiar parking deck.</p><p>Opening the door to the conference room, Natsu saw Bokuto and Hinata sitting down and speaking with Meian. All talking stopped as they looked toward the interruption.</p><p>Meian looked surprised, but he waved them both over, "I wasn't expecting you two today. Is there a problem?" Natsu wasn't sure if this was his normal response to unexpected meetings or if he had a sixth sense about these things.</p><p>Sakusa looked at Natsu and clear as a bell, she heard his voice in her head saying, "I don't know, is there?"</p><p>Natsu ignored the look from the man beside her and placed her hands on her hips.</p><p>"Other than my brother showing up unannounced in my house? No, not at all."</p><p>Meian leaned back in his seat, "I had meant to message you and give you a heads-up, but I was busy." He waved a hand indicating Hinata and Bokuto next to him.</p><p>Natsu sighed and shrugged, "It's fine. I just thought you would want to know what they said."</p><p>Meian sat forward, listening as she told him how her brother came here wanting her to move back home. She warned him that her father might be tampering with her contract and his eyebrows raised.</p><p>When Natsu finished explaining, Meian sat quietly as he processed everything, finally speaking thoughtfully, "Are you planning on going back?"</p><p>Natsu had expected this question. Had thought of nothing but what she would say on the entire ride up here. She still had no idea how to answer him.</p><p>"I honestly don't know," she said miserably.</p><p>Sakusa scoffed beside her, "So much for a contract deal."</p><p>"Fuck off, Omi-kun," Natsu snapped at him.</p><p>Meian held up a hand to cut off whatever Sakusa was about to snap back and asked Natsu, "Do you wish to go back?"</p><p>Natsu looked up and found Meian watching her with an inexplicably kind look on his face and she hesitated before deciding to tell him the truth, "No, I really don't."</p><p>Bokuto made her jump slightly as he rapped the table with his knuckles, "Well that settles it. Just don't go."</p><p>Natsu wanted to smile at the infectious energy, but then she remembered what would happen if she didn't go back and she shook her head, "I wish it were that easy."</p><p>"Well, why isn't it?" Gods, his optimism knew no bounds.</p><p>"It's complicated. It's just better for everyone if I go back." Why was she trying to talk these people into letting her go when what she really wanted to do was beg them to help her? Was she still trying to talk herself into this?</p><p>"Better for everyone, but you, right?" Bokuto's large golden eyes watched her, seeing more than she wanted them to. Sometimes, he would surprise her with his blunt observations. Bokuto didn't act like it often, but there was a depth to him that Natsu had yet to see the bottom of.</p><p>Natsu narrowed her eyes at the large man, "So I'm not allowed to make sacrifices for the people I care about?"</p><p>Bokuto considered her words, "Well, I guess so, but don’t those same people want you to be happy too?"</p><p>She gave him a sad smile, "Not as much as you would think."</p><p>Sakusa stirred beside her, "Did they give you a time limit?"</p><p>Natsu shook her head, "They just said they would wait in town for my decision. I don't see them waiting for long though."</p><p>"Can you see if they'll be open to a meeting with us?" Meian looked like he had an idea.</p><p>"They didn't tell me where they were staying, but if you send me a list of everyone staying in the five star hotels around here, I'll be able to figure it out." Knowing her brother, he was likely to sign them in under a name that would catch her attention.</p><p>Meian nodded, "You'll have it by tomorrow morning. Tell them we wish to speak with them at their earliest convenience."</p><p>Natsu told him she would and Meian dismissed them. Almost out the door, Meian called back to her, "Actually, Natsu, would you mind staying behind?"</p><p>Natsu glanced over at Sakusa, who was already looking at her, eyes quizzical over his mask.</p><p>"I don't mind, sir, but Sakusa is my ride and I would hate to make him wait." Natsu would actually love nothing more than to make him stand around with his thumb up his butt for hours, but she desperately wanted to go home and fall asleep.</p><p>Meian looked at Sakusa, "I won't be long. You don't mind waiting for a few minutes, right?"</p><p>Sakusa looked like he wanted to say he would rather take a nose-dive off a bridge, but he shook his head and shot her a glare behind Meian's back before turning and walking out the door.</p><p>As soon as the door closed, Meian took a seat back at the table and gestured for Natsu to do the same before asking, "Do you like it here? With us?"</p><p>Natsu furrowed her brow, "It's a lot different from the other places I've worked, that's for sure," for one thing, everyone here seemed somewhat competent and for another, none of them seemed to mind working with her, even though females were virtually unheard of in this line of work. Natsu sighed, answering Meian's question more directly, "I guess I don't hate it."</p><p>Meian placed his forearms on the table and leaned towards her, "If you did happen to get your contract canceled with DateKo and you didn't have to return to Miyagi, would you want to stay here?"</p><p>Natsu's body jerked in surprise, "You'd make me a member of the Black Jackals? Me?" She pointed to herself, even though they both knew who he was talking about.</p><p>Meian chuckled, "Of course, why wouldn't I snatch you up? Your skills and level of experience are nothing to scoff at. You'd be an incredible asset anywhere you go. I'm not one to let an opportunity like this go to waste."</p><p>"But, I," Natsu struggled to find an easy way to say this, but failed, "I'm a female. Females aren't official members of the syndicates." Again, she was telling him something he knew full well, but she couldn't help herself.</p><p>"There's also never been a female contract killer from DateKo before, and yet, here you are," he pointed out before shrugging, "Male, female, it's all the same to me. You don't need a dick to do as I ask, right?"</p><p>"I mean, I guess not," Natsu couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had wasted the first half of her life trying desperately to fit into a role that had never once felt comfortable to her.</p><p>Women shouldn't speak so loudly. Why would you need to learn that when you have men to protect you? What could you possibly know about things like this? Women are just more suited for delicate things.</p><p>Meian knocked his knuckles on the table, bringing her attention back to the here and now.</p><p>"So is that a yes?"</p><p>"It's a yes," Natsu nodded, eyes flashing.</p><p>Meian smiled and stood, "I'm glad to hear it. That's all for now, I appreciate your time. You're free to go."</p><p>He left her still sitting at the table in mild shock.</p><p>Natsu walked out of the elevator and into the waiting car, still unsure what exactly just happened.</p><p>"What was that about?" Sakusa asked her, fingers drumming on the steering wheel.</p><p>"I don't know," Natsu answered honestly. There was no telling what Meian was thinking asking her that. It was almost cruel the way he got her hopes up like this.</p><p>The ride back was just as quiet as it was before.</p><p>******</p><p>Natsu woke from a night of restless sleep to her phone buzzing loudly next to her head. She groaned, face still half buried in her pillow as she flipped through them. It was the list of people in hotels she had asked Meian for.</p><p>It didn't take her long to find the name her brother had used. Laughing out loud in her empty room, Natsu messaged Meian back, telling him she would talk to Tooru today.</p><p>After going through her normal morning routine, slower than normal to delay things as much as possible, Natsu fell onto her couch and called the front desk of the hotel.</p><p>"Hi, yes, I would like to speak with Iwaizumi Tooru please, could you connect me to his room?" Natsu had a hard time not laughing as she said the name. She could only imagine the look on Iwaizumi's face when they had checked in. Ah, what she would have given to have seen it.</p><p>The clerk patched her through and she waited while the phone rang.</p><p>"Hello?" It was her brother's voice, thick with sleep.</p><p>"Iwaizumi Tooru, huh? You're really pushing your luck with that man."</p><p>Natsu heard a small huff of a laugh, "You have no idea, big sis," he groaned as he sat up, "Do we have an answer so soon?"</p><p>"No, I'm calling to pass on a message from Meian. He says he wants to meet and talk about this."</p><p>"I'm not the one calling the shots on this trip," Natsu heard shuffling as he moved around, "We can meet, but I wouldn't expect anything to come out of it."</p><p>"I'll try to contain my joy, little brother."</p><p>Tooru hummed into the phone, "Ok well, how about today around three?"</p><p>"I'll talk to Meian and call you back to confirm," Natsu's face pinched at the idea of being a glorified secretary.</p><p>"I'll be waiting for your call, my dear sister," Natsu could just hear the smirk in his voice.</p><p>Tooru placed the phone back in its spot on the night stand and leaned back against the headboard, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Was she always such an early riser? Movement sounded on his right and he felt a muscular arm wrap itself around his waist.</p><p>Olive eyes blinked slowly as Iwaizumi mumbled, "What did she say?"</p><p>Tooru absent-mindedly ran a hand through the unkempt raven spikes and sighed, "The Jackals want a meeting with us today."</p><p>"They have nothing to negotiate with, it's pointless."</p><p>"These people have a very powerful presence in Tokyo. I'd be an idiot to ignore them."</p><p>Iwaizumi rolled on his back and pulled his arms over his head in a stretch, "You're an idiot anyways, Dummykawa."</p><p>Tooru pouted, crossing his arms over his bare chest, trying to ignore the warmth from the half naked body beside him. Trying and failing.</p><p>"You're so mean to me, Iwa-chan. Our first conversation today and you're already so cruel." Tooru turned his back on the man, placing his feet on the floor as he moved to get up, but was pulled back by a pair of familiar arms.</p><p>"You didn't let me finish," Iwaizumi whispered, pressing his lips into the curve of Tooru's shoulder and holding him tight against his broad chest.</p><p>The brunette hummed happily as the top of his shoulder and side of his neck were layered with open mouth kisses, "Well, if you had started with this, I'd let you say whatever you wanted."</p><p>A small laugh rumbled behind Tooru, vibrations tingling where his back met the other's chest.</p><p>"I was going to tell you that you're <em>my</em> idiot, dumbass."</p><p>Tooru reached back and threaded his fingers through short black hair as he murmured, "I'll be anything you want, Iwa-chan, just- ah, fuck!" Tooru jerked as Iwaizumi's rough hands thumbed over his exposed nipples. They were still sensitive from last night and Tooru had a sneaking suspicion Iwaizumi knew that.</p><p>The lips still pressed against pale skin smirked, confirming said suspicions as tanned hands brushed the pink nubs again.</p><p>Tooru's body twitched again and he gritted out, "Goddamn it, Iwa-chan, I'm waiting for Natsu to call back. As soon as that happens, we'll have most of the day to have as much sex as you want."</p><p>Iwaizumi shook his head as his hands trailed over pale skin and down a trim stomach, "We never get this much time together, Tooru. I want all of it."</p><p>God damn, Tooru loved hearing his name come from those lips. It was such a rare occasion, and when it did happen, it was mostly a hushed reverent prayer in the dark. It gave him chills to hear it spoken so plainly, here in this hotel room, dimly lit by the rising sun, like it was an everyday thing.</p><p>"Hajime, please," Tooru whimpered, subconsciously leaning back into Iwaizumi's chest as calloused hands kneaded the tops of slim hips, slipping under the waistband of his boxers.</p><p>Tooru knew he was losing this fight when Iwaizumi's fingers grazed his half hard cock, making his back arch and his hips push into the feeling.</p><p>Warm air ghosted over the shell of his ear as Iwaizumi whispered back, "You sound so good when you beg."</p><p>"Fuck," Tooru moaned, gripping the sheets.</p><p>The phone beside them rang out, startling both of them.</p><p>Tooru clambered over and answered, "Natsu?"</p><p>"Meian said today at three is fine with him," Natsu still hadn't left the couch.</p><p>"Ok, we'll be there, Natsu. Bye!" He hung up.</p><p>Natsu pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it. Well that was weird. No sarcastic comments? No calling her big sis? Natsu thought back to where her brother was and who he was with.</p><p>It's probably best not to think about it too much.</p><p>******</p><p>At approximately five minutes before three, Natsu found herself in the conference room, seated beside Sakusa. She hadn't realized she had been drumming her fingers on the table until Sakusa hissed beside her, "Could you stop?"</p><p>Natsu grinned over at him, "Or what, Omi-kun? Are you going to sit there and stare me to death? See if I care." She talked big, but it was actually too much effort to consciously continue tapping on the table, so she stopped after a couple minutes, earning her a smirk under the mask beside her.</p><p>At precisely three, the door opened and everyone turned to see her brother and Iwaizumi both step through and take a seat at the table.</p><p>"I'm glad you could join us today," Meian began after the introductions were made.</p><p>Tooru smiled across the table, "It's actually no trouble at all. However," he spread his hands, "There's little I can tell you besides the fact that Natsu is needed back home."</p><p>Meian nodded, "Of course, I understand. I just hope you can see how it concerns me that your father is buying her out from DateKo."</p><p>Tooru furrowed his brow, "I fail to see the issue," he glanced at Natsu who shrugged. She didn't know where this was going either.</p><p>Meian leaned back in his chair, "You see, contracts from DateKo stress the importance of the client's anonymity and trade secrets. Who knows what would happen if that contract suddenly became null and void?"</p><p>Natsu's eyes widened as she realized what Meian was worried about. He thought that if she cut ties to DateKo, she would be able to tell anyone everything she had learned in her short time here.</p><p>Natsu leaned over the table, "It doesn't matter if there's no physical contract anymore. The fact that I still signed it can't be erased."</p><p>Meian acknowledged her, but continued looking at Tooru, waiting for his response.</p><p>Tooru shook his head, "I can assure you, Meian-san, making an enemy of the Black Jackals is the last thing on my father's mind."</p><p>Meian narrowed his eyes at him, "Then what is so important that he needs her contract nulled to bring her back?"</p><p>Natsu clenched her hands in her lap and pinched her lips together to keep from saying anything. Sakusa watched her carefully out of the corner of his eyes, taking note of her discomfort.</p><p>Tooru answered, "You know how sentimental fathers can be. He simply misses his only daughter and wishes for her to be by his side again."</p><p>Meian was not convinced, "From what I've heard of the King of Seijoh, he feels no such attachment to his family."</p><p>"Our father is simply strict. Of course he loves and cherishes his family," Tooru's smile tightened just enough for Natsu to notice.</p><p>"I'm very sorry, but I can't allow you to leave here without telling us his true purpose for calling Natsu back," Meian nodded to Hinata and Bokuto who rose and stood in front of the door, blocking the exit.</p><p>Iwaizumi tensed next to Tooru, hand inching its way to the inside of his jacket as he twisted to watch the pair in front of the door. Natsu saw the raven lean in to whisper something to Tooru who just shook his head and patted the shorter man's arm.</p><p>Tooru looked back to Meian, fake smile finally gone, "If you're looking for a different answer, I'm sorry to say that I don't have one."</p><p>Meian pursed his lips and nodded to Sakusa who stood up next to Natsu. Pushing herself to her feet, Natsu stopped him, "They don't know why Father wants me back."</p><p>Meian stared at her, "And you do? Even though you say you haven't spoken to your father in years?"</p><p>Natsu nodded, "It's the same reason I left. Father would never risk telling Tooru or Iwaizumi what he wants from me."</p><p>"What does he want?" Meian's normally relaxed gaze was sharp and dangerous as he waited for her answer.</p><p>Natsu's voice wavered, "I'd rather not say, sir," his eyes hardened, "but I swear it has nothing to do with any of you."</p><p>Meian shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I meant it when I said no one was leaving until we know why your father wants you back."</p><p>Tooru leaned forward, trying to get his sister's attention, "Natsu what are you talking about?"</p><p>Natsu ignored him and spoke to Meian, "I'll tell you, but only if you let them go first."</p><p>"I won't let them go," Natsu clenched her hands, but looked up when Meian continued, "I will, however, allow you into my office, where you can tell me in private, if that is what you prefer."</p><p>Natsu finally looked down the table at her brother whose eyes burned her with questions that she couldn't find it in herself to answer. She turned back to Meian and nodded. Turning her back on the pleas across the table, Natsu followed Meian into his office.</p><p>Natsu went to take a seat across from a large oak desk when she noticed Sakusa standing next to the door.</p><p>"I don't know what part of 'private' confused you Omi-kun, but that doesn't include you."</p><p>Sakusa clenched his jaw under his mask and looked to Meian who spoke, "I asked him to be here. If you are truly against it, he'll leave."</p><p>Natsu settled in her seat and sighed, "It's fine, I guess. As long as Tooru and Iwaizumi don't find out," she picked at the armrest, "I just don't want them knowing yet."</p><p>Meian sat behind his desk, "Wouldn't they find out eventually if you were to go back?"</p><p>"Yeah, but by then it would be too late to do anything," Natsu shrugged, "I just don't want to tell them anything until I have some kind of plan."</p><p>There was silence as they waited for her to continue.</p><p>"My father is very, very old school. He hates that I am the way I am. He's only ever seen my value as a trading piece," Natsu fought hard to keep her fingernails from digging into her palms, "Before I left home and signed with DateKo, he found another like-minded individual who was looking for a woman to marry his son. My father saw it as the perfect opportunity to unite a current powerhouse with a faded one, so he agreed to hand me over, just like that. So I ran to DateKo. I never imagined he would be able to work around them like this."</p><p>When she was done, Meian hummed, drumming his fingers on the wood of his desk, "Forced marriages are very outdated indeed. Not as outdated as I had thought," his face pinched in distaste, "I've always hated the idea of them."</p><p>"You and me both," Natsu huffed a humorless laugh.</p><p>"There's no other ways to strengthen ties with this other group?"</p><p>"Oh, there's plenty of ways. Trade agreements, common enemies, in fact, if we were to allow their people passage through our streets, it would save them a lot of time and man power."</p><p>Meian looked impressed at her suggestions, "Those don't seem that bad. They sound preferable to the alternative."</p><p>Natsu scoffed, "Not according to my father. The way he sees it, all those ideas need some modicum of trust, some give and take. Something the King of Seijoh doesn't believe in. With the marriage, it's a win-win, he gets me into a position 'more suited to my skills' and he gains a powerful ally."</p><p>Meian hummed, "Can you tell us the name?"</p><p>Natsu didn't see how that would make a difference, so she replied, "The head of Karasuno wanted me for his son, Sawamura Daichi."</p><p>Both men jerked in surprise at her words. Exchanging a look with each other, Meian turned back to her, "Karasuno? You're sure?"</p><p>Natsu scoffed, "Yeah, pretty fucking sure. Why?"</p><p>Meian turned to Sakusa, "Get him in here, I want to see if he knows anything."</p><p>Black curls bounced as Sakusa nodded and disappeared behind the door only to reappear a few seconds later with Hinata in tow, looking confused.</p><p>"Hinata, you remember your time with Karasuno?"</p><p>Hinata nodded, caramel colored eyes flicking between the three of them, looking for some clue as to why he was here.</p><p>"Were you aware of some kind of arrangement between Aoba Johsai and Sawamura Daichi?"</p><p>Orange hair shifted as Hinata cocked his head to the side, trying to remember, "Yeah, I think so. It's hard to remember exactly what it was. I just remember Aoba Johsai being mentioned during one of the only times Daichi-san ever yelled at the boss. It was kind of scary, even the triad was pissed off at the boss. They never would tell us why they were angry though."</p><p>"So they never talked to you about it?"</p><p>Hinata shook his head, "No, there were rumors, but," he hesitated, looking at Meian, "I'm not sure I should say."</p><p>"I wouldn't want you to say anything you're uncomfortable with. You know that."</p><p>Hinata shuffled his feet as he nodded, "Best I can do is tell you that whatever deal it was, it almost seemed personal with Daichi-san. He looked relieved when it was called off."</p><p>"Do you know why it was called off?"</p><p>Another shake of his head, "The whole thing was pretty hush-hush."</p><p>Meian sat back in his chair and hummed, "Thank you for talking with us, Hinata. We appreciate it."</p><p>The smaller man dipped his head before bouncing out of the room.</p><p>Natsu let the door close before asking, "What was the point of that?"</p><p>"Well, some of it was to verify what you were telling us," Meian ignored the look Natsu shot him, "but it was mostly to see whether or not Karasuno was divided about the decision."</p><p>"What does it matter if they're on board or not? It's going to happen no matter how anyone feels about it."</p><p>"You sound as if it's already a done deal. Is there more we don't know about?"</p><p>Natsu clenched her hands. She couldn't tell them about Takeru. The less people who knew about him, the better. It's not just that it wasn't their business, she didn't see the point in telling them. They couldn't do anything about it anyways.</p><p>"No, nothing," Natsu answered, softly.</p><p>Sakusa spoke for the first time since they had come in here, "You're lying."</p><p>"I've already told you what my father wants from me. I don't owe you anything else," Natsu snapped.</p><p>"You're not wrong," Meian propped his head on his hands and looked at her over his desk, "but I've grown rather fond of you and, if I could, I'd like to keep you here. I'd like to help."</p><p>"I didn't ask for your help," Natsu's voice came out with less venom than she had intended.</p><p>"No, you most certainly didn't," Meian chuckled, "Nevertheless, I would like to give it."</p><p>Natsu sighed and shrugged, "It's not like you'd be able to do anything if you knew anyways."</p><p>"Does that mean you'll tell us?" Meian smiled.</p><p>Natsu pursed her lips and shifted in her seat. She threw a nervous glance to Sakusa, who hadn't moved from the door. He stared back blankly and she blew out a breath.</p><p>"Before I left home, I gave birth to a son," Meian sat up straight in his chair while Sakusa's eyes widened over his mask.</p><p>"The father is long gone, so I left him with Tooru and asked him to claim the child as his. Our father knew Tooru was a shameless flirt back then, so he didn't give it a second thought. Until now," Natsu's hand trembled in her lap and she pressed them together harder, allowing the sharp pain in her palms to distract her.</p><p>"He was supposed to be safe there, but now, unless I go back, I just know Father will do something terrible to him."</p><p>"This is what you were talking about with Bokuto yesterday," Meian murmured.</p><p>Natsu nodded, "Father will have no problem hurting him," her lip trembled and she bit it, harshly, "The way he sees it, if Takeru isn't Tooru's then he's not really an Oikawa, just some bastard. He's willing to lose him in order to gain the 'legitimate' grandchildren Daichi and I would make."</p><p>Meian's nose wrinkled, "That sounds disgusting."</p><p>"It's how he thinks," Natsu paused before whispering down at her hands, "Too bad he's getting no more heirs from me. Fucking bastard."</p><p>Meian looked to Sakusa, who shrugged, just as lost as he was by that statement. Meian turned back to Natsu to cautiously ask, "What do you mean?"</p><p>Something about her face made him drop his voice down into a whisper too. Made him unsure about if he actually wanted to know the answer.</p><p>Natsu grinned and it sent a cold chill down both men's spines.</p><p>"I couldn't birth him naturally, so I had to find a doctor off my father's radar. The C-section went surprisingly well, considering how little numbing medication he used," Natsu vaguely registered the twin looked of horror on the men in the room, "It was so painful, but I was so happy just hearing my son's first cry. It dawned on me that I might never have another chance like this, so before the doctor closed me up, I made him sterilize me, right then and there."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>How'd y'all like that IwaOi I threw in there? Fuck, I love them so much! Worth it.</p><p>So sorry this is late, but I can't promise when the next chapter will be up. Turns out, I suck at deadlines. Especially self imposed ones.</p><p>But, hey, if you're reading this, then thanks! I love you guys! *kisses*</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Deals and Dramatics</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ah, fuck, I'm sorry to the four whole people who actually bookmarked this trainwreck haha (that sounds sarcastic, but I truly am sorry) I kind of ended that last chapter in a little of a weird spot so...sorry about that.</p><p>I got overly invested in this new IwaOi fic I'm writing and kind of let this one go even though I had most of this chapter already written up.</p><p>I don't know if y'all are actually sitting around and waiting for this update, but here ya go.</p><p>Boy am I really scraping the bottom of the barrel for this chapter name. Why did I do this to myself? Oh right, 'cause I'm an idiot. Welp, Momma ain't raise no quitter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Natsu felt Sakusa staring at her in horror as his hand went unconsciously to his stomach, ghosting over the place where he had seen her scar. He pulled his hand back, suddenly looking rather squeamish.</p><p>Meian's face mirrored Sakusa's as she finished. He was silent for a long time, processing her story before asking, "Does your brother know?"</p><p>"No," Natsu had actually never told anyone about her sterilization. It wasn't that she regretted it, this life was better for everyone. She never brought it up because it hurt. It hurt a lot more than she thought it would and Natsu hated how it made her feel vulnerable.</p><p>"Let us help," Meian's voice was so soft it made Natsu's heart give a painful squeeze.</p><p>"You can't," she wanted their help more than anything. It took everything she had not to throw her scraps of pride to the side and beg them to help her out of this mess. Even if she did, Natsu still couldn't see any way they could help her, so she declined.</p><p>"How do you know that, if you won't let us try?"</p><p>Natsu was exhausted, mentally and emotionally drained.</p><p>"Do what you want."</p><p>Opening the door on this particular wound tired her out a lot more than she had expected. Her only thought now was how badly she wanted to collapse on her bed back home and sleep until her surfacing memories faded and sunk back into the abyss.</p><p>"Well, you say that, but I have a feeling you're going to absolutely hate the idea I have. Truth be told, I'm not too fond of it myself."</p><p>Natsu raised an eyebrow, curiosity outweighing her exhaustion, "Do tell."</p><p>"Have you considered entering into a marriage with someone else, rendering the marriage to Sawamura invalid?"</p><p>The following silence was deafening as Natsu processed his words. There was no way she heard that correctly. A small, hysterical laugh bubbled out of her as she looked to Sakusa, trying to bring him in on the obvious joke. Sakusa didn't even glance her way, onyx eyes unreadable as he watched Meian.</p><p>Natsu jerked her head back to stare at Meian, just sitting there, hands clasped on his desk. To his credit, he did look somewhat chagrined, tanned skin not dark enough to hide his faint blush.</p><p>Leaning forward, Natsu almost fell out of her seat as she spat, "You can't be fucking serious," no response, "I don't even know where to start with this," she fought the urge to stand and pace, "That plan sounds an awful lot like forcing someone to marry me, the exact situation we're trying to avoid. Even setting that aside, do you know how pissed my father would be? He'd skin the person alive!"</p><p>Still no reaction from the man across the desk. Natsu was beginning to get worried he was actually serious.</p><p>"I won't do it! I won't put someone through that!" Natsu knew too well the kind of horrors her father's mind was capable of producing and she shuddered.</p><p>Meian finally spoke, "It wouldn't be some random person off the street. It would be someone your father would be very careful not to mess with."</p><p>Natsu didn't like how he said that, "Please tell me you don't already have some poor soul in mind."</p><p>"Sakusa."</p><p>"Sir?" The man in question spoke up, confused.</p><p>"I thought you would be more than capable of this endeavor," Meian clarified. Like he was asking him to pick up his dry cleaning.</p><p>Sakusa recoiled at the suggestion, eyes wide, "Why me?"</p><p>Meian turned to face him more fully, "You're one of the best sharpshooters I've got, you've made a name for yourself as someone to avoid, and being as valuable to me as you are, it would make the King of Seijoh think twice about harming you."</p><p>Natsu was sure this was a rampant hallucination. Probably brought on by the stress of seeing her brother after so many years. That was the only explanation, because there was no way this was happening to her.</p><p>She stood abruptly, mumbling to no one in particular, "I can't. I fucking can't," she rounded on Meian, "Are you even taking this seriously?"</p><p>Meian watched her pace, choosing to remain seated, "Are you?"</p><p>"Oh fuck off," Natsu spat, not meaning it, but too upset to filter herself.</p><p>"If it's ties to another gang in Miyagi that your father wants, the best way to prevent that is to make those ties impossible."</p><p>Natsu really hated how calm and logical he sounded when she knew just how ridiculous all this was.</p><p>"We don't even get along, how the hell are we suppose to marry?" A last ditch effort to make him see this wouldn't work.</p><p>Meian gave a small smile at her words, unintentionally fueling Natsu's anger.</p><p>He opened his hands, "I didn't say you'd have to like each other. This would purely be for legal purposes only. Just to make it impossible for you father to marry you off like that. You both can continue life as normal, nothing would have to change, if that's what you're worried about."</p><p>"What I'm worried about," Natsu gritted out through clenched teeth, "is the fact that I'm making Sakusa a walking target for any fucker looking to win my father's favor."</p><p>"I can take care of myself," Sakusa pointed out, coldly. It irritated him that he felt the need to defend himself like this.</p><p>"Don't flatter yourself, Omi-kun." Natsu spat, "I don't like this plan with or without you here to fuck it up."</p><p>"You Oikawas don't scare me. If his children are anything to go by, this King of Seijoh is nothing but a worthless, old fool."</p><p>"I've changed my mind Meian, please make him marry me so I can watch my father torture him to death."</p><p>"You'll be severely disappointed."</p><p>"I'll even bring popcorn."</p><p>A hand slammed down on the desk, making both Natsu and Sakusa tense up and turn towards Meian who sighed and brought up a hand to massage his temples, "It's almost like watching you and a more vicious Atsumu go at it. Look, we don't have to decide right now and ultimately, it's up to the both of you. I think this is the best way with the least amount of damage, but if anyone has any other ideas, I'm all ears," Meian glared at both of them as they avoided his eyes, knowing they didn’t have anything better.</p><p>"Ok. If there's nothing else, I have phone calls to make. Natsu," she reluctantly looked at him, "I'm sorry about your son, he is welcome here any time if you decide that's best," she nodded and he turned to Sakusa, "Sakusa, I wouldn’t suggest you for this if I had any doubt in my mind that you were in actual danger."</p><p>Sakusa inclined his head slightly and looked over as Natsu began to speak.</p><p>"I do have one request," Meian gestured for her to continue, "Along with Takeru, would you also allow Iwaizumi to stay here if he needed to?"</p><p>Meian raised his eyebrows in surprise, "The man outside with your brother?" Natsu nodded and Meian tilted his head in thought.</p><p>"He would be your responsibility if that happens."</p><p>Natsu took that as a 'yes' and thanked him as Sakusa opened the door, allowing both of them to back into the conference room.</p><p>Tooru looked to be in a particularly energetic conversation with both Bokuto and Hinata from the way his arms were flailing about. Iwaizumi had his arms crossed on the table beside Tooru with his chin resting in the crook of his elbow and a look of utter boredom on his face.</p><p>The door closed behind them and four pairs of eyes snapped to them as Tooru stood up.</p><p>"What the hell, Natsu?" He asked.</p><p>Natsu ignored him and sat next to Iwaizumi who straightened up to watch her place her hands over her face.</p><p>"Natsu-chan, what's wrong?" Iwaizumi murmured next to her.</p><p>Sakusa pointed at Hinata and Bokuto, gesturing for them to leave. The pair hesitated, clearly wanting to help in some way, but the look in Sakusa's eyes made them slide out the door.</p><p>Slumped in her seat, Natsu turned her head to look at the two beside her. Even though she had asked to speak with Meian in private to avoid telling Tooru and Iwaizumi why her father wanted her back so bad, it might be better if they knew. Shared sorrow was supposed to be half sorrow, right? Not that Natsu believed that, but what the hell? At least they had a distant outline of a plan now.</p><p>Natsu steeled herself, "Father wants to marry me off to Karasuno's next in line. It's a shameless power grab with me in the middle."</p><p>Iwaizumi raised his eyebrows and tilted his head back while Tooru jerked in surprise, leaning over Iwaizumi's shoulder to talk to her.</p><p>"Daichi? There's no way the triad would be on board with that!"</p><p>The triad. Hinata had mentioned them as well. If Natsu remembered correctly, it referred to the top three positions directly under the head of Karasuno. They almost equaled the boss in the amount of sway they held over Karasuno. Sawamura Daichi was first, being the next in line, he was guaranteed the top spot. Sugawara Koushi followed close behind as his right hand, with Azumane Asahi bringing up the rear. Natsu hadn’t heard much about Azumane, but she knew enough to be wary of the quiet ones. Those three held the current top spots as they had for the past several years.</p><p>"From what Hinata said, it sounded like they weren't too happy about it," Natsu recalled.</p><p>Tooru chuckled, "Yeah, I'd be pissed too if Father tried to force me into a marriage like that."</p><p>"You don't say," Natsu muttered, dryly.</p><p>"Sorry, sweet sister. I should've guessed there was something else to his sudden affection towards you. It seems Father still doesn't trust me yet. What a shame."</p><p>"You bring it on yourself, Tooru. Don't give me that look when you know I'm right."</p><p>Tooru clicked his tongue and rested his chin on Iwaizumi's shoulder to look at her, pausing briefly before squinting, "You have a plan, don't you?"</p><p>Damn his sharp eyes. Natsu glanced at Sakusa before turning back to her brother, "Nothing's set in stone yet. We need to talk more before making a decision."</p><p>"That was terribly vague, big sis," he followed her eyes to Sakusa who was leaning against the wall next to the door, trying his damnedest to sink into the wallpaper. Even Iwaizumi could tell all this man wanted to do was leave.</p><p>Tooru tilted his head and gave Sakusa a smile, "It seems I haven't had the pleasure of speaking with you yet. I don't suppose you would have any more details for me."</p><p>Sakusa's ebony gaze was steady and unimpressed as he looked back at the younger Oikawa, "If she says we need to talk more, then I have nothing more to add," even his voice was bored.</p><p>Tooru whistled as he turned his whole body to face Sakusa, suddenly intrigued, "Wow Mr. Serious, don't tell me my sister has you on that short a leash," Tooru smirked when Sakusa's jaw clenched under the mask and his flint eyes glinted dangerously.</p><p>"I'm on no such leash."</p><p>Waving a hand dismissively, Tooru snickered, "So serious. I was only joking, of course."</p><p>"Tooru," Natsu gained her brother's playful attention before Sakusa snapped, "give us a few days to make a decision."</p><p>"Anything for my sweet sister!" Tooru beamed at Natsu over Iwaizumi's shoulders as both men stood up.</p><p>Natsu sighed inwardly in relief and promised to call whenever they decided something.</p><p>Left alone with Sakusa, Natsu leaned back in her chair, head tilted up towards the ceiling. A head of dark curls came into her peripheral and sat next to her.</p><p>"You said we needed to talk. So talk."</p><p>Natsu would never in a thousand years admit this to anyone, but sometimes, it was a relief when Sakusa talked to her, being as direct as he was.</p><p>"You don't have to do this." Natsu started.</p><p>"I'm aware."</p><p>"You don't owe me anything."</p><p>"Of course I don't."</p><p>"You wouldn't be able to marry someone you actually liked."</p><p>"There's no one I like."</p><p>"Are you actually considering this?"</p><p>Sakusa paused at that and Natsu looked over, watching him visibly contemplate his answer before speaking again, slowly.</p><p>"Objectively, it's a good idea. Your family would be unable to legally bind to the Sawamuras unless something happens to me."</p><p>Natsu hummed, "What about subjectively?"</p><p>Again there was a pause, but Natsu was unable to decode his subtle facial expressions above the mask.</p><p>"I'm not obligated to share my thought process with you."</p><p>Natsu should've expected that and shrugged it off, "I'd be responsible for bringing you into this mess."</p><p>Sakusa scoffed, "You're acting like I'm not perfectly capable of making my own decisions."</p><p>Natsu rolled her eyes, "Now is not the time to be a cocky asshole, Sakusa."</p><p>"I'm not being cocky," his nose crinkled as if the word had a bad taste, "I'm being realistic. I might be the only person who can handle this."</p><p>Natsu wanted to argue more, but if she had learned anything from being his stand in partner these last few weeks, it was to not underestimate the man beside her.</p><p>"Fine," Natsu grumbled, "but if you die, I'm writing 'I told him so' on the fucking tombstone."</p><p>Natsu wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a glint of amusement in Sakusa's eyes as he stood up and walked out the door.</p><p>******</p><p>Natsu spent most of the next day just trying to get Sakusa to agree on a place for them to meet with Iwaizumi and Tooru. It was like pulling teeth, except Natsu would have given all her earthly possessions for the opportunity to <em>actually </em>pry his teeth from his jaw.</p><p>He didn't want to meet in public, but he didn't want them at his place. The hotel apparently counted as 'public' so that was out. Natsu offered her place, but was rejected as well. It was hours before he finally relented, saying her place was as good as it was going to get.</p><p>Natsu hung up and screamed her rage into the couch cushions before stomping out of her house to blow off steam at the gym.</p><p>******</p><p>The next day, Sakusa was the first to show up. That didn't surprise her, but what did surprise her was the fact that he showed up an hour and a half early. Natsu gave some serious thought to slamming the door in his face, even the thought of it made her smile. Instead, she reluctantly opened it wider and waved him inside.</p><p>It felt odd to have Sakusa be the one to silently take in her living space like she had done his. She watched as he slowly moved through the lower level, gloved hands shoved deep in the pockets of his leather jacket. Natsu had offered to take it from him when he came in only to receive a deeply scandalized look. So she let him keep it on.</p><p>His flat, black eyes seemed to absorb everything about her space in complete silence and it set Natsu on edge.</p><p>"If you sit down, I'll make some tea," she needed him to stop moving around so much.</p><p>Sakusa nodded and moved towards the couch as Natsu disappeared into the kitchen to make the tea. She came back out and rolled her eyes upon discovering the room to be empty. Of course it was too much to ask that he just sit the fuck down.</p><p>Natsu put the tea and cups off on the small end table next to the couch and looked around. Where did he go?</p><p>Papers rustled nearby and Natsu dashed down the hall and into her work space, cursing. She slid into the doorway in her hurry to get in there, gasping at the violent pain in her shoulder as the wood hit her scar perfectly.</p><p>"What the fuck!? Put those down!" Natsu reached for the papers held in gloved hands, only managing to grab a few before Sakusa moved out of her reach. Natsu noted, distractedly, that he had removed his jacket. When had he done that?</p><p>Sakusa held up the papers and studied them, "Are these real places and people?"</p><p>Natsu almost growled in frustration and embarrassment as he continued his inspection of her charcoal drawings. She reached up and grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the papers and twisted, pulling them down and towards her. With her other hand, she plucked the papers from his fingers before shoving him towards the door.</p><p>Despite his obvious height and weight advantage, Natsu had clearly surprised him enough that he stumbled slightly. Sakusa straightened and looked back at her, eyes full of amusement.</p><p>"A locked door does not mean enter, you nosy fuck," Natsu seethed.</p><p>Sakusa had the nerve, the fucking gall, to chuckle at her. He put his hands in the pockets of his pants as he hummed, "So would now be a bad time to return something of yours?"</p><p>"You're stealing things now?"</p><p>"It's not stolen, but it <em>is </em>yours," Sakusa turned and walked out the door, waving something in his hand, "come with me and hold out your hand."</p><p>Natsu narrowed her eyes, but followed cautiously out the door and down the hall. Sakusa stopped next to the staircase and she followed suit, holding out her hand.</p><p>"Dramatic much, Omi-kun?"</p><p>There wasn't much time to process the devious gleam in his dark eyes before he grabbed her hand and closed a metal ring around her wrist. Natsu went to pull her hand free, but didn't go far. She looked down and found that the son of a bitch had handcuffed her to the banister of the stairs.</p><p>Natsu jangled the metal and raised her eyebrows at Sakusa, who had moved to a safe, healthy distance out of her reach.</p><p>"Very funny. Now we're even, right?"</p><p>Sakusa lifted a finger to unhook his mask from his ear, revealing a small, self-satisfied smirk, "Not even close."</p><p>Natsu glared after him as he moved into the living room and took a small sip from the cups she had set out.</p><p>"Omi-kun, as much as I like a handcuff kink, this is hardly the time for fun and games."</p><p>"I'm not playing games," Sakusa brandished his cup of tea, "I'm drinking tea."</p><p>"Real cute," Natsu squinted her eyes, "Who are you and what have you done with the real Omi?"</p><p>Sakusa ignored her and pulled a thick piece of paper out of his pants pocket, unfolding it carefully to show it to her.</p><p>"God damn it Sakusa, would you keep your hands off my shit?!" Natsu pulled uselessly on the cuffs as she recognized the drawing in his hands.</p><p>"This one looks rather decent, why was it in the trash?"</p><p>"Let's talk about how you went through my trash to begin with."</p><p>Sakusa shrugged and turned the paper over to examine it again, "It happened to be on the top and it caught my eye. You can imagine how that's possible, right?"</p><p>Natsu brought her face down to her cuffed hand to massage the side of her head, staving off a headache. She should have burned that sketch instead of trashing it.</p><p>The drawing in question was a simple one, bare bones outline of a face with high cheekbones, dark curly hair pushed to the side, a pair of beauty marks on the forehead, and two inky black eyes. She had spent <em>hours </em>trying and failing to get the feel of the eyes right, but had given up and in her frustration, she had pitched the whole thing.</p><p>"What I imagine is you, digging through my trash like a weirdo."</p><p>Sakusa set his cup down and walked towards her just to stop, barely out of her range, "Why throw it away?" His head was tilted, offering no insight into his thoughts.</p><p>For as much as she liked his directness on any other day, Natsu found herself wishing for room to misinterpret his questions.</p><p>"I didn't like it," Natsu said, bordering on a childlike pout.</p><p>"It's clearly not finished, why decide so early?"</p><p>"Why do you fucking care?"</p><p>Sakusa looked at the drawing again, mouth twisting to the side in a way that let Natsu know he was thinking particularly hard about something.</p><p>"I like it."</p><p>Natsu scoffed, "Then keep it."</p><p>Sakusa's nose wrinkled, vexed at the suggestion, "Why would I keep it if it's not finished? Then I'd look at it and be left wondering what it looks like completed."</p><p>"Then put it back in the trash, Sakusa!" Natsu pulled at the handcuffs in exasperation.</p><p>"You won't finish it?"</p><p>"No! That's why I chucked it."</p><p>Sakusa hummed in thought as he looked down at the drawing of his own face. He wasn't so sure why it fascinated him so much. Wasn't even sure if it was fascination or the pull he felt to see things completed. Either way, it had never occurred to him to think of how other people saw him. Looking at the sketch was like looking at a distorted picture, a view through someone else's eyes. It didn't bother him as much as he though it would.</p><p>"Complete it," Sakusa said, looking back at Natsu.</p><p>"For the love of god, why?" Natsu groaned.</p><p>"Because I asked?"</p><p>Natsu snorted, "No, that was a demand."</p><p>"Ok," Sakusa stepped closer and backed her up against the railing on the staircase, "Will you finish this?"</p><p>Natsu glared up at him, trying to determine if she could take him down, handcuffed to the stairs like this.</p><p>"Take off these cuffs and I'll think about it," she countered.</p><p>"I don't think so. We both know you're smart enough to find a way out of those cuffs by the end of the day. The only question, is whether you'll choose the easy way, or the hard way," Sakusa leaned on the banister behind her, trapping her with his arms.</p><p>"Tell me you'll finish it, and I'll give you the key. Tell me to fuck off and we can have this meeting with your brother right here in the hallway."</p><p>Natsu scowled at the face in front of her. It was tempting, so fucking tempting to tell him exactly where he could shove those keys. Unfortunately for Natsu, she wasn't in the habit of carrying around her lock-picking set in her own home. She had nothing, not even a hair clip. And, god, her brother would be the worst if he saw her. He wouldn't be able to hold a serious conversation if his life depended on it.</p><p>"You're a bastard," Natsu growled at him.</p><p>The barest hint of a smile, "I've been told."</p><p>"Fine," Natsu spat, "You'll get your precious drawing of your own face. Conceited much?"</p><p>"Maybe," Sakusa murmured as his gloved fingers gripped her chin, sending small, electric shocks down her spine.</p><p>Natsu moved to pull back, but was stopped by the banister. She sucked in a breath, surprised at the sudden shift in the air. It had been so long since the last time this happened, she had just assumed he had regretted it and wished he could forget. Natsu blinked, she could still be right, after all, he had just grabbed her chin, nothing overtly intimate in that action. Nope, nothing intimate at all in the way he pulled her face to his.</p><p>Honestly, Natsu needed to get better at reading this man, because it wasn't until their lips met that her brain kickstarted and caught up to the present.</p><p>The present, where a gloved hand released her jaw to skim down her neck and the center of her torso to press her fully into the railing of the stairs. Where the small, shallow meeting of the lips moved along her jawline and across her neck.</p><p>Natsu finally reacted, delving her free hand into the head of dark curls tickling her chin, pulling him closer. A sharp, pleasant pain radiated from the side of her neck, making Natsu cry out and arch up, away from the banister and closer to the broad chest in front of her.</p><p>Another wet pull and bite to the skin of her neck resulted in much the same before Sakusa pulled back and stepped away.</p><p>Natsu blinked, unsure what the hell had just happened and looked over to see Sakusa running his fingers though his hair and smirking.</p><p>"Now we're even."</p><p>Natsu's anger flared up, but was extinguished as he flicked something small towards her. Catching it, she looked down to see the key to the handcuffs she was promised. The same ones she had left on a table in a hotel room all those months ago.</p><p>Now free, Natsu stomped up her stairs to throw the handcuffs on her bed, too agitated to think of a better place to put them before coming back down.</p><p>Sakusa quirked an eyebrow as he took a sip of the, now lukewarm, tea, "I'll do us both a favor and not ask why you put the handcuffs in your bedroom."</p><p>It was truly a miracle she hadn't stabbed him yet.</p><p>Choosing to ignore his comment, Natsu stormed into the kitchen, if only not to be in the same room as him for a while. She grabbed one of her favorite paring knives with an opalescent handle to twirl in her hand as she counted the minutes until Tooru and Iwaizumi showed up.</p><p>******</p><p>At long last, they were all there and gathered around the small coffee table in Natsu's living room. Tooru and Iwaizumi were both surprised to see Sakusa there, but neither said anything, choosing to wait for Natsu to tell them.</p><p>Pausing the spinning of the knife in her hand, Natsu sighed, "I'm not going back home."</p><p>Both men across from her processed her words for less than a second before shouting.</p><p>"You know what would happen if-,"</p><p>"Think about what you're sayi-,"</p><p>Natsu held up a hand to silence them as she continued, "Father wants me to marry into the Karasuno family. I can't do that if I'm already married, right?"</p><p>Tooru was staring at his sister in pure disbelief, "You're saying you'll marry someone so Father can't legally tie himself to Karasuno?" Natsu nodded. "You'll just leave Takeru? And what about Iwaizumi?"</p><p>Natsu flinched, her brother was getting upset, but she had expected this and she knew it wouldn't get any better.</p><p>She tried to talk calmly, "Father would have no reason to hurt Takeru if we take away the reason he wants me home. The same could go for Iwaizumi, but I've ensured they both have a place here if Father takes his anger out on them."</p><p>Iwaizumi bristled next to Tooru, "I'm not just going to leave Aoba Johsai. This idiot couldn't even function without me. No way am I leaving."</p><p>Natsu ignored her brother's look of scandalized indignation and talked to Iwaizumi, "It might not be up to you, Iwa. There's no way to predict Father's actions especially when he's angry."</p><p>"Then don't make him angry and come home," Tooru snapped at her, brown eyes flashing.</p><p>Natsu shook her head, "I've already made up my mind. I'm sorry, Tooru."</p><p>"Bullshit," Tooru seethed, leaning over the table between them to hiss at her, "You're not sorry, you've never been sorry a day in your life. You do whatever you want, you always have. Big sis Natsu never gave a damn about how her actions effected the rest of us."</p><p>"Tooru, stop," Iwaizumi murmured, but Tooru was too worked up, too far gone to care. He continued, hands clenched and eyes bright with anger.</p><p>"You were always the favorite. Every day I had to hear how amazing my sister was. How naturally gifted she was. A fucking prodigy, they said. But you didn't care, you disappeared for months, coming back to drop your child on me, like I was ready to care for a kid. Well fuck you, because I wasn't! Now we ask this one thing of you to help all of us and you refuse? I should've known you were only looking out for yourself."</p><p>"Enough!" Iwaizumi grabbed Tooru by the arm and shook it to get him to shut up. Tooru jerked his arm out of his grasp, but stayed quiet, breathing a little hard at the emotions running rampant through his chest.</p><p>Natsu took a minute to make sure her voice wouldn't waver, "I'm not asking for your forgiveness Tooru, I'm asking you to at least try to understand." She shifted in her seat, lowering her voice, "It was true others called me a prodigy, but none of that ever mattered to Father, to him, I was still just a female. He never approved of my training, always beating me within an inch of my life every time he heard about it. Yelling at me, telling me the only skill I needed was to give birth like a 'good bitch'."</p><p>Natsu began twirling the knife in her hand again, remembering how he had spat in her face and how helpless she had been back then. It wasn't a time she enjoyed thinking about.</p><p>"I gave you Takeru, because I knew you would love him in a way I couldn't," Natsu hesitated, shaking her head and continuing. No sense in backing out now. "I took one look at him and I knew he would look just like his father and I wasn't strong enough to push past that. I'll be forever grateful that you took him in and gave him the home he deserved, both of you."</p><p>Iwaizumi tilted his head, voice low to match hers, "You never told us about his father."</p><p>Natsu smiled, but the sight made Iwaizumi feel inexplicably sad, "I didn't want you to treat him any different."</p><p>A tanned hand reached across the table and squeezed her knee in comfort, "We wouldn't dream of it."</p><p>"Thank you, Iwa." A ghost of a real smile crossed her face.</p><p>They were silent for a while. Sakusa felt extremely out of place, like he was eavesdropping on a private conversation and he loathed the feeling. Truly despised it. But he was smart enough to wait for someone else to break the silence.</p><p>"Is that all, Natsu?" Tooru, unlike Iwaizumi, was still upset, unwilling to let go completely.</p><p>"Not exactly," Natsu said, straightening up.</p><p>"Then hurry up with it." Olive green eyes shot a glare to the man next to him, but Tooru ignored it.</p><p>"Remember how I told you I would need to marry for this to work?" Natsu sighed, waving her hand towards the end of the couch where Sakusa sat. She couldn't say it. It still sounded too ridiculous to her.</p><p>Tooru and Iwaizumi both looked at the man sitting far removed from their small group. Long legs crossed and dark eyebrows raised in anticipation. Tooru reacted first.</p><p>"A Black fucking Jackal?! God damn it Natsu, like Father wouldn't be pissed off enough?"</p><p>"Strangely enough," Natsu snapped, "I don't give two fucks how pissed Father gets."</p><p>"Clearly!" Tooru's hands clenched the armrests on his chair.</p><p>"Hold on," Iwaizumi interrupted, turning back to Sakusa, "You understand you're setting yourself up for a whole shit load of assassination attempts, right?"</p><p>"I'm not a child who needs things explained to him." Sakusa flicked a nonexistent piece of lint from his pants.</p><p>"So, you got a death wish?"</p><p>"I do not."</p><p>"Why put yourself in the middle of this? It has nothing to do with you," Iwaizumi was doing his best to understand the man at the end of the couch. Sakusa was having none of it.</p><p>"I'm not required to explain my reasoning to you."</p><p>Natsu could feel Iwaizumi getting frustrated at the lack of information, so she interrupted, "He's aware of the situation, Iwa. I just need you two to tell Father."</p><p>Iwaizumi raised his eyebrows and turned to Tooru, who leaned forward to speak to her, "You're really doing this?"</p><p>Natsu nodded, "We're signing everything in a couple days. It would be best to wait until then to tell Father."</p><p>"This is so weird," Tooru leaned back and placed his chin in his hand, looking at Sakusa, "Well, congratulations, Jackal. You managed to snag an Oikawa. I hear we're pretty amazing."</p><p>Next to him, Iwaizumi rolled his eyes.</p><p>Sakusa looked almost bored as he replied, "Your family name means nothing to me."</p><p>"Ah, yeah," Tooru waved a flippant hand, "I guess she would take yours, huh? Natsu's been looking for a way to get rid of it for years."</p><p>"Can't say I blame her."</p><p>"Oh, you're a harsh one aren't you?" Tooru's eyebrow quirked up and he asked, "What are you getting out of this?"</p><p>"Constant interrogations, apparently," Sakusa said, dryly.</p><p>"Come on, work with me. I want to know what could possibly be worth the wrath of the King of Seijoh."</p><p>"His wrath is worthless if I'm not afraid of him."</p><p>Tooru chuckled at that, "Not being afraid and being too stupid to stay in your lane are two separate things."</p><p>"I'm confused," Sakusa tilted his head at Tooru, "Are you trying to talk me out of helping your sister?"</p><p>"Of course not. I just never pegged you as the 'helpful' type," chocolate brown hair swayed as Tooru mirrored Sakusa's head tilt, "It makes me wonder what you get out of it."</p><p>"For fuck's sake, Tooru," Natsu had heard enough of her brother's taunts, "Meian was the one who asked him to do this, so if you've got a problem, talk to him about it."</p><p>Tooru glanced over at Natsu before straightening up, grinning and humming, "I see. But you can't blame me for wanting to get to know my new brother-in-law."</p><p>Natsu blanched at his words and saw Sakusa's face pull down into a frown beside her.</p><p>Tooru chuckled again at the reactions, "It's not every day we get a new family member. I know!" He brought his hands together in mock excitement, "Why don't we go out and celebrate. Then you can tell us all about yourself. What do you say?"</p><p>Natsu laughed, not needing to see Sakusa's face to see how hard he was frowning.</p><p>Still snickering, she said, "Yeah, that's a no. Nice try, though."</p><p>Sakusa shot her a glare, "I can answer for myself."</p><p>She laughed again, "Oh I'm sorry Omi-kun, was I wrong?"</p><p>Tooru's eyes brightened at the nickname as he looked to where Sakusa was frowning pointedly at his sister.</p><p>"I'll have to pass on your offer," Sakusa said as he slid his coal black eyes across the coffee table to look back at Tooru.</p><p>Tooru laughed, "Offer still stands whenever you feel like it," he paused and cut a dangerous smile towards Sakusa, "If you're still alive, that is."</p><p>Sakusa's eyes narrowed, but he didn't raise to the bait.</p><p>Natsu stood, eager to get these people out of her house and get back to her regular life, not having to think about things she'd rather not.</p><p>"Ok, well thanks for listening to me, Tooru. I'll message you when everything's set."</p><p>She turned to Iwaizumi as the pair rose from their seats and dropped her voice conspiratorially, "Keep an eye out for him, would ya?"</p><p>A faint blush only Natsu noticed dusted his tan cheeks as he playfully rolled his eyes, "Tell me it's not too late for me to exchange this Oikawa for another."</p><p>A wide smile curved her lips as she winked, "Only about twenty years too late, dear Iwa."</p><p>"Iwa-chan! You would trade me out like some used car?" Tooru cried dramatically.</p><p>Blush forgotten, Iwaizumi responded, deadpan, "I would trade you for a stick of gum, Trashykawa."</p><p>Natsu snickered behind her brother's back as she ushered them both out the door. They said quick good byes before resuming their discussion down the driveway, with Iwaizumi telling Tooru exactly how many meaningless things he would exchange him for. The brunette becoming increasingly offended with each item, but Natsu could see the faint smile on both their lips as they crawled into their car.</p><p>Closing her door, Natsu turned back and nearly jumped out of her skin, finding Sakusa leaning against the wall, watching her. Not a good time to forget he was there.</p><p>"Make a fucking noise or something every once in a while," she snapped, opening the door up again and giving Sakusa a pointed look.</p><p>He pulled his jacket on slowly, "Good to know you come by the attitude honestly." Nimble fingers hooked his mask back into place over his ears.</p><p>Natsu leaned against the open door, "Bye, Omi-kun. See you at the courthouse."</p><p>Sakusa walked past her, turning back when he stepped outside, "I haven't forgotten about the drawing. Make sure you bring it next time."</p><p>Natsu shut the door in his face.</p><p>Smiling to herself, she went back and cleaned up the living room, ignoring the thick piece of paper staring at her from the side table. It was a wonder Tooru hadn't investigated. Though, she did throw a lot at him to process, so it made sense. She was glad he hadn't seen the drawing of Sakusa's face. There would've been no way for her to ever live it down.</p><p>Why did Sakusa even want her to finish it? What was he going to do, hang it up in his house? Natsu snorted at the visual.</p><p>Tracing a finger down the edge of the folded paper, she though about finishing it. She might be able to, now. With all the time spent next to him in his car, hunting the list of people down, it took a lot less effort to conjure up his fathomless, black eyes. Even up close it had been difficult to tell where his pupils ended and his irises began and yet, somehow there was more to it than just plain black.</p><p>Natsu gripped the paper in her hand and decided to hell with it. She'd finish it just to get it out of her house for good. Let it be someone else's problem. She stomped into her work space and began sketching.</p><p>******</p><p>It was exactly two days later that Natsu found herself in a pair of boots that came up to her knees and thick, black leggings under a bright green sweater dress.</p><p>She huffed for the hundredth time in fifteen minutes, making Sakusa tilt his head towards her in annoyance.</p><p>"All I said was to look nice. You're the one who decided to wear that."</p><p>Natsu clenched her jaw and grumbled, "I don't get why I have to dress up anyways." Not that she thought she looked bad, she actually knew for a fact this was one of the best colors, offsetting the brown of her hair nicely and blending with her eye color. She just hated playing 'dress up' when she didn't feel like it.</p><p>Natsu crossed her arms and slumped against the cold marble wall. They were in the hallway of the courthouse, waiting to see an official to sign the paperwork for their 'marriage'. Apparently Meian had taken care of everything else, this was just the only thing he said he had no control over.</p><p>Natsu desperately needed something to stab, but could only hide two blades in her current state of dress, carefully tucked away and strapped to her thighs just under her dress. Since they had to walk through metal detectors on their way in here, she had also had to resort to her ceramic knives. They were great for precision, but extremely fragile and never lasted more than a couple hits.</p><p>Sakusa rolled his eyes at her and adjusted his mask with a gloved hand, "I've already told you why. The official can deny us a license for any reason he deems fit."</p><p>He carefully folded the drawing she had shoved in his hand earlier, placing it in his pocket. He didn't even look at it, which only added to Natsu's level of frustration.</p><p>"Like the fact that I wear pants?" Her voice was laced with distaste and she struggled to keep it down in the echoing hall.</p><p>"As luck would have it, this guy knows me. He used to be a cop and we had some," he paused, trying to find the right word, "disagreements back in the day. He'll be looking for any reason to deny the motion. Just this once, we need to act like people who want to get married."</p><p>Sakusa's face was half hidden by the mask, but Natsu could tell he was extremely displeased with the situation. She could practically feel it rolling off him in waves. Seems like he was trying to convince himself too.</p><p>Still salty about not being in comfortable clothing, Natsu couldn't let it go, "And your type of partner is this?" She gestured at herself in case he missed her meaning.</p><p>"My type definitely isn't you," he shot back, equally as pissy, "That's why you need to act the complete opposite. Maybe try shutting up for a change."</p><p>"You know Omi-kun, that would've actually hurt my feelings," she leaned down and lowered her voice, grinning at the look Sakusa shot her, "if only I didn't know how much you enjoyed me choking on your cock."</p><p>A dark look flashed in ebony eyes as Sakusa pulled in a surprised breath, not expecting such vulgar words in such an open and public space.</p><p>Thankfully, before he could open his mouth, they were interrupted by the click of the door opening beside them. Sakusa stood and Natsu straightened to file into the room, self satisfied grin still sitting nicely on her lips.</p><p>They took the seats facing a large and obscenely ornate desk at the back of the room. The man who had let them in had moved back behind the wood and pulled out a small folder. Sitting down, he flipped it open, glancing up at the pair of them.</p><p>"Never thought I'd see your name on one of these forms," he leaned back in his chair, "Sakusa Kiyoomi." He rolled the name in his mouth as if testing to make sure it sounded right.</p><p>"Komori," Sakusa replied, inclining his head at the man behind the desk, "Congratulations on your promotion."</p><p>The man, Komori, hummed as he thumbed through the papers in his hands, "Don't worry, I made sure to tell everyone all about you before I left the squad. They won't be as easy to fool anymore."</p><p>"You flatter me too much. I lead a much quieter life these days," he gestured to Natsu, "as you can see."</p><p>Natsu smiled, adopting a bright personality by channeling her annoyance into her facial expressions. She picked up a hand in a light wave and Komori squinted at her, talking to the both of them.</p><p>"Yeah, about that," he pulled a single sheet out and laid it in front of him, "I was planning on denying it immediately, but I decided to give you a chance to convince me." He raised his eyebrows at the two of them.</p><p>Sakusa sighed as he crossed his legs, placing his ankle on his knee and spreading his hands on his lap, " How could I possibly do that in one meeting?"</p><p>Komori turned to Natsu, "How did you two meet?"</p><p>Natsu brought up a hand to tug playfully at her hair as she forced her mouth into a demure smile. People normally blushed remembering things like this, right? Oh well.</p><p>"Oh, gosh, I guess technically it was outside a bar. You know the one in Shinjuku, with the iron crown?"</p><p>"What do you mean technically?" At least he didn't seem to reject her story completely yet.</p><p>Natsu had always had a nasty habit of blending truth within lies, giving them more credit than a wholly made up story. She made a show of ducking her head in embarrassment.</p><p>"Well, I'd seen him around quite a bit, he was always showing up at my job and he always seemed to stand out to me," she twirled her hair again, "I saw him outside that bar one night and I just took a chance. Things just went from there." Natsu covered her face and hated the small part of herself that actually needed to do it because of the embarrassing things coming out of her mouth.</p><p>Komori tapped his finger on the desk and turned to Sakusa. Natsu glanced over at him as well to see what he thought of her performance. The corners of his darks eyes were tilted up in amusement and she was sure he was holding back a smile under the mask. Making sure Komori wasn't watching, she rolled her eyes at him, sticking her tongue out for good measure.</p><p>"And how long have you known each other?" Komori asked.</p><p>Natsu let Sakusa handle that one, "Couple years."</p><p>"Cut the bullshit you two," Natsu's eyes widened in surprise at the snap, "You think I don't recognize the name Oikawa? How dense do you think I am?"</p><p>"I don't think you want me to answer that," Sakusa replied, smoothly.</p><p>Komori glared at Sakusa over the desk, "I don't know what you're planning, but I'm not allowing it to go any further."</p><p>Natsu should've expected her real name to raise a few flags. They had to use it if they wanted this all to be legal. Fortunately for them, very few people actually knew her real personality, so she wasn't ready to drop this façade just yet.</p><p>"Please, sir," Natsu reached over and clasped Sakusa's gloved hand before turning back to plea with Komori, "if you know my family, then you know I haven't been a part of their life for years and I have no intention of going back," all true, even if she was omitting certain details. She made a show of entwining her fingers with Sakusa's gloved ones, "Not when I have someone her waiting for me."</p><p>Natsu pushed back the gag she felt in her throat and looked at Komori who was staring at their hands.</p><p>Oh, that's right, Natsu remembered belatedly, if this guy knew Sakusa, he would know the raven didn't like to be touched by strangers. Good thing they had been spending nearly every day together for months.</p><p>Natsu felt her hand being pulled. Curiously, she went with the motion, letting Sakusa pull her hand until Natsu realized he was wanting her to sit on his lap. To hide her shock, Natsu turned to duck her head into the crook of the raven's neck, pretending they were comforting each other.</p><p>Natsu shifted, careful not to touch the man's skin on accident. The last thing they needed was him flinching back from her touch. As if she wasn't already speechless enough, Natsu felt Sakusa's hand rubbing up and down her back, completing the image of a comforting partner.</p><p>"Her family means nothing to me. They have nothing to do with this."</p><p>Ooo, good one, Natsu thought, remembering him saying multiple times how little he cared about her family name. Unfortunately, they had everything to do with this right here.</p><p>Komori hesitated, clearly stunned by her proximity to Sakusa.</p><p>"You let her touch you?" Komori sputtered.</p><p>Sakusa was unfazed, "Of course. It would be strange if I didn't."</p><p>"I didn't think you'd go so far for some charade."</p><p>Natsu felt this was an appropriate time to show some anger and she turned to snap, "It's not a charade. What's your prob-,"</p><p>Natsu was cut off by the feeling of fingers gripping her chin as they pulled her head to the side and angled it up where soft lips met hers.</p><p>In her surprise, Natsu momentarily forgot about not touching Sakusa and brought her hands to twist through his curly hair. A detached part of her brain registered his hand doing the same at the back of her head. It was a good thing too, because when the lips against hers parted and brushed his tongue against her teeth, Natsu nearly jerked herself out of his grasp in further shock.</p><p>Sakusa finally broke the kiss and glanced back at Komori, "Still think it's a sham?"</p><p>Natsu was dazed, beyond dazed, she was utterly floored. She looked at the face in front of hers. When had he taken his mask off? He should really do that more often. She swiveled her head back to look at Komori and grinned at the man.</p><p>Komori was at a genuine loss for words. He'd known Sakusa for years and had never seen him willingly touch strangers or let them touch him without some sort of mental preparation first. He knew, logically, this was too much of a coincidence.</p><p>A high ranking member of the Black Jackals just happened to meet the eldest Oikawa from Aoba Johsai and fall in love? No fucking way.</p><p>Still, he couldn't deny the fact that there was a small, infinitesimal chance they weren't lying. A big part of him wanted to deny the request, but he was having a problem coming up with a valid reason. The man drummed his fingers on the desk, trying to wrack his brain for a reason. Anything.</p><p>Natsu cleared her throat, trying not to shift too much on Sakusa's lap and ruin the image, "Komori-san, you still seem conflicted. How else can we possibly convince you?"</p><p>Komori ran a hand through his brown hair, trying to shake loose an idea. Something that would let him sleep at night, knowing he did everything he could to prevent this.</p><p>"Tell me what you love about each other," he said, watching their faces simultaneously drop. He grinned in triumph.</p><p>Komori's gloating was cut short by Natsu, her voice soft and halting.</p><p>"There's this thing he does when he's waiting on something," Natsu pursed her lips and looked stubbornly away from where she felt Sakusa staring holes in the side of her face, "if you don't pay attention it's easy to miss because nothing really changes on the outside. It's in his eyes, the way they move into his own world while still being completely focused on the next step."</p><p>Natsu glanced up to see Komori watching her and she sighed, playing with her fingers in her lap, "Most of the time, he's a giant jerk. He's rude, too direct, and cold."</p><p>Natsu felt her cheeks flush and hated every second of this attention, "But when he gets focused like that, he's beautiful."</p><p>More silence after her words and Natsu could feel Sakusa's warm hand on the small of her back twitch. It comforted her to know she wasn't alone in her misery right now.</p><p>"The way he goes about things is sometimes harsh, bordering on cruel, but the amount of thought and care he puts into almost everything he does is breathtaking," Natsu huffed an awkward laugh and shrugged, avoiding everyone's eyes as she mumbled, "It sounds ridiculous when I say it, but it's the truth."</p><p>Sakusa twisted his mouth to the side, finding Komori's gaze shift to him. He guessed now it was his turn.</p><p>"Truth be told, nearly everything she does irritates me. Always loud. Always something to complain about. Never shuts up."</p><p>Natsu rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Unfortunately, she's also one of the most capable people I've ever seen," Sakusa sighed, fighting not to clench his jaw, "She's brilliant and strong and never once have I seen her back down from a fight. She constantly surprises me with her seemingly endless depths in not only knowledge, but experience. Both of which, are the main reasons I'm here today."</p><p>Natsu tilted her head to fully look back at the raven and found his gaze firmly set on a stack of papers off to the side, stubbornly not looking at either of them.</p><p>To anyone else, it might have sounded like Sakusa had said 'here' as in the building, trying to get a marriage license, but to Natsu, it sounded like he meant more. She studied his face for a few more seconds, but he was an expert in concealing his thoughts and she got nowhere.</p><p>"That kindness doesn't sound like you, Sakusa," Komori was finding it harder to deny their request with every passing moment, but he never knew when to quit.</p><p>"It's not kindness if it's the truth," Sakusa murmured.</p><p>"It's kind of you to say it."</p><p>"What is this, therapy? Are you going to sign the papers or not?"</p><p>"That's more like it," Komori mumbled, furrowing his brow and glancing between the papers on his desk and the pair in front of him.</p><p>"Fine," he threw his hands up lightly in defeat, "Fuck, I know I'll regret this, but unfortunately, I can't find a suitable reason to deny it."</p><p>Natsu grinned and they all waited patiently for Komori to sign the required papers. As they were standing up to leave, he held the certificate out to Sakusa, "I'll be sure to tell the rest of the family you're still alive and kicking."</p><p>Sakusa plucked the papers out of his hands and waved them, "Tell them whatever you want, Komori."</p><p>"Congratulations, by the way," Komori called after them.</p><p>Natsu barely managed a befuddled wave before Sakusa herded her out the door.</p><p>"Family, huh?" Sakusa ignored her and continued walking down the hallway to the parking deck where he left his car.</p><p>Natsu felt like she needed a reminder of how much of a jerk this guy actually was, so she tried again.</p><p>"I kind of thought you just sprang, fully formed, from Satan's asshole. Who would have thought little Omi-kun has a real live family out there?"</p><p>"Only everyone with half a brain cell."</p><p>There he was. Natsu grinned, "You wound me, Omi-kun. How can you be so cruel to your own wife?" She held up her left hand and flipped him off with her ring finger, showing him the gaudy diamond ring on it.</p><p>He eyed the jewelry, "Where did you get that?"</p><p>"Stole it, duh."</p><p>"Get in the car."</p><p>Natsu swung herself in the passenger's seat and watched Sakusa as he pulled a travel sized container of mouthwash out of the glove box. He took a swig and offered it to her. Natsu shrugged and accepted it. Who would turn down fresh breath?</p><p>She probably should have been offended that he had felt the need to wash his mouth out, but she understood. She'd been around him long enough to not take it personally.</p><p>Natsu opened the door to spit out the mouthwash, turning back to Sakusa, "Did I just see you swallo-?"</p><p>For the second time in less than an hour, Sakusa interrupted her by crushing his lips against hers. His hands burrowed into her loose hair and almost pulling her onto his lap.</p><p>Natsu pulled back, mouth slick and tingling with both of their minty saliva as she gasped out, "I can't read you at all."</p><p>"Good," Sakusa murmured, his lips ghosting over her cheek before landing back over hers. Gloved fingers gripped her jaw and tilted her head to give him access to her neck.</p><p>Thinking through the pleasant slide of his lips over her skin, Natsu managed to fit words into sentences, sounding much more put together than she felt.</p><p>"Seriously, Omi. I'm so over you working me up like this and just leavin-fuck," he pulled the sensitive skin of her neck between his teeth, cutting off her rational thoughts.</p><p>"You want me to do something about it?"</p><p>"Shit, Kiyoomi yes," she felt her hips moving restlessly in the seat, looking for some sort of stimulation.</p><p>Natsu hadn't realized she had closed her eyes until she felt gloved fingers pushing against her lips. Opening her eyes, she saw two, jet black eyes intently focused on her face and she shivered slightly. That was the look she had been describing to that man, Komori. It was calculating and predatory. It was analytical and intensely focused on her.</p><p>"Take off my glove," Sakusa murmured, pushing his fingers past Natsu's lips and into her mouth, letting her know exactly how he wanted her to take it off.</p><p>Natsu complied, slowly pinching the leather glove between her teeth and pulling it off each of his fingers. Sakusa watched her carefully, following her every move, his breaths coming faster.</p><p>"Hold it in your mouth."</p><p>Natsu nodded her understanding.</p><p>Sakusa pushed her back into the seat and leaned over her. He pushed her short dress up with his gloved hand, bunching it around her shoulders and putting her hand there, silently telling her to hold her dress up and out of the way. After making sure Natsu did as he asked, he slowly slipped his other hand between her thighs to rub her over the fabric of her leggings.</p><p>Natsu groaned around the glove in her mouth and pushed her hips against his hand. She jolted as he slapped her at the apex of her thighs.</p><p>"God, you're such a needy thing," his lips lifted in the ghost of a smile.</p><p>Natsu huffed a small laugh and arched her back as he pulled her bra down to expose her breasts.</p><p>Fuck, she shouldn't like this as much as she did. They were in a well lit parking deck. One look through the un-tinted windshield and there would be no doubt what they were doing. Somehow, the thought didn't bother Natsu as much as she thought it would.</p><p>A gloved hand in her hair, holding her head up against the seat and his hot lips on her breasts were only stoking the fire under his other hand. Natsu couldn't help the movement of her hips as he applied more pressure to her heat.</p><p>This time he retaliated on the skin of her breast, biting harshly down on it. Natsu released a low groan in the quiet atmosphere of the car.</p><p>Natsu shifted and pulled the arm she wasn't using to hold her dress free from the weight of Sakusa's chest to fumble blindly in the man's lap until her fingers found his warm length pressing up against the fabric of his pants. She felt him grind against her hand and grinned around the leather between her teeth.</p><p>Naked fingers slipped under the fabric of her leggings and pushed shallowly, almost playfully at her wet center.</p><p>"All this for me?" Sakusa murmured, his breath hot against her flushed chest, "It's so easy to slip in."</p><p>Natsu moaned as he did just that, only pressing one finger into her, toying with her. She debated whether it was worth it to drop the glove in her mouth so she could tell him to take this seriously. Before she could decide, Sakusa simultaneously pressed another finger in while he circled her clit with his thumb.</p><p>A muffled and barely recognizable, "Fuck," escaped her as Natsu tried to focus on undoing Sakusa's pants with one hand. She could have cried with joy when his zipper finally popped open. Sakusa let go of her hair to hastily pull his pants and boxers down enough for his cock to spring free.</p><p>He pulled back to dig in the center console before pulling a small foil packet out. Natsu watched, fascinated as he ripped the wrapper with his teeth and rolled the condom over himself. As soon as he was done, he wasted no time leaning back over and plunging his fingers back into her as she eagerly wrapped her fingers around the pre-lubed condom.</p><p>Their breathing became short and fast as they simultaneously stroked and rutted against each other. In the excitement of doing something so dirty in such a public place, both neared their orgasm fairly quickly.</p><p>Sakusa's hot breath brushed over Natsu's bitten and suckled neck, drowning out the squelching sound of three of his fingers diving into her soaked entrance with his moans next to her ear.</p><p>"Such a good girl," Sakusa moaned, biting the lobe of Natsu's ear and groaning, "Keeping my glove in your mouth like that. Fuck!"</p><p>The hips rocking into her fist, stuttered and became erratic as Sakusa emptied himself into the condom with a low, drawn out moan.</p><p>Still in the aftershocks of his orgasm, he reached over and pulled the glove out of her mouth, pushing his mouth next to her ear as he murmured, "Let me hear the sound you make when you cum for me."</p><p>His darkened voice pulled Natsu up and over the edge as she shouted and clamped down on his fingers slamming inside her all the way to the knuckles.</p><p>Natsu's head slammed back into the seat as she moaned, "Fuck yes, Omi, ah."</p><p>Coming down from their separate highs, they realized the air in the car was immensely hot an humid. Natsu lazily fixed her clothes and cracked the windows while Sakusa pulled off the filled condom with a pinched look on his face before carefully placing it in a small zip-lock bag and throwing it in the backseat to get rid of later.</p><p>Natsu watched in fascination as he cleaned himself off, washing his hands in hand sanitizer and pulling a towel from god knows where to wipe his dick.</p><p>"Were you ever a boy scout?"</p><p>Sakusa cocked an eyebrow at her question, but didn't stop what he was doing.</p><p>Natsu grinned, the last time they had sex, his face had been relaxed and easier to read just as it was now. She found that she liked it.</p><p>"You know," Natsu gestured at all his supplies, "because you're always prepared."</p><p>He rolled his eyes at her and tossed her the towel and hand sanitizer.</p><p>"Don't touch anything in my car until you've cleaned off your hand."</p><p>Natsu laughed softly to herself, humming as she cleaned herself off while Sakusa drove them out of the parking deck.</p><p>Flipping down the visor to check the state of her hair, Natsu gasped when her splotchy neck caught her attention. Faint pinkish purple circles dotted to side of her neck and she knew they were bound to grow bigger and darker.</p><p>She slammed the visor back up and turned to Sakusa.</p><p>"You fucking asshole."</p><p>Sakusa's mouth tilted upwards in a smug smile as he glanced at her neck, "Is there a problem?"</p><p>"Is there a problem?" Natsu mocked, childishly, "Yes there's a fucking problem. How am I supposed to hide these?"</p><p>Sakusa shrugged as he flipped his blinker to turn down a street, "Why should I care whether you hide them or not?"</p><p>"Because the next time you do this, I'll cut your balls off and wear them as earrings," Natsu growled.</p><p>Sakusa chuckled, "Good luck finding another chauffer to drag your ass around."</p><p>"I've got my own means of transportation, thank you."</p><p>Sakusa glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, "Well then what the fuck am I doing driving you around?"</p><p>Natsu crossed her arms across her chest, "First, you never asked, and second, it's a little too conspicuous to be driving to murder scenes on it."</p><p>"On it?" Sakusa picked up on the word usage, "So it's a motorcycle."</p><p>He scoffed as he braked for a stop light.</p><p>"It is," Natsu confirmed, "And if you ask nicely, I'll even let you ride bitch."</p><p>"Not even if my life depended on it."</p><p>"Suit yourself."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ugh, this smut is so embarrassing, I can't even write it good.</p><p>I don't know why I got so hyper focused on this fic at 3 oclock in the fucking morning. I just started typing it up and decided I couldn't sleep until I finished it. I need to finish my IwaOi chapter, but noooooo. Fuck you very much brain.</p><p>I can't remember cause it's been so long and I'm hesitant to read my last notes, but did I ever tell you guys how this was kind of inspired by Burden of Blame by DeathBelle? If you haven't read that masterpiece, it's an amazing SakuAtsu fic that was one of the first ones I read and I just couldn't put it down. It's so fucking good. Obviously, this isn't SakuAtsu, but they are in my top ships so they each have a special place. Btw, in case anyone was wondering, I'm definitely bringing Atsumu back into this, I think it's next chapter, but I could be wrong. I love that little asshole.</p><p>Anyways, yeah, I forgot how much I actually liked the ideas I had for this fic, I might try to do both this one and the other one, but the length of these chapters is killing me, I think I can only do one or the other for a while. So if you want to check it out, by all means, go for it, but if IwaOi's just not your jam, no hard feelings. Just don't tell them that I updated this one first before the IwaOi, I already know I'm letting them down haha.</p>
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